The World Cup looms not so much as Socceroos striker Nikita Rukavytsya's shop window - more like the narrow band of glass over the "break in case of emergency" button.

If Pim Verbeek decides he needs the 22-year-old striker as an impact player in South Africa, Rukavytsya realises it could be the precious few minutes that fires up a career which - at club level at least - sits stalled and awaiting a kick-start.

As he prepares to play a role on the sport's biggest stage - and as one of only three strikers in Verbeek's squad it's fairly certain he will - Rukavytsya was shown the door this week by his Dutch club FC Twente.

He was unable to break into the Dutch champions' first-team, and spent the latter half of the season at Belgian second division club KSV Roeselare.

There he scored goals and performed well enough to make the Socceroos' final 23.

But it wasn't enough to keep his day job, and Ukrainian-born Rukavytsya admits any chance to strut the World Cup stage is both opportunity to help the Socceroos as well as himself.

"I'm hoping obviously to play a role in those three group games and help the team to win games. I'm just happy to be in this environment because it gives you much more confidence and much more experience," he told AAP.

"It was always in the back of my mind to make the World Cup squad. I wasn't sure about the 23 but I just wanted to be in the mix and I'm really happy at the moment.

"I'm a free agent so we'll just have to see what happens after the World Cup. Hopefully I get a chance to play and do well."

Rukavytsya's strength is his remarkable raw speed, which takes him past defenders at will.

He grew up in the Ukraine, and when Rukavytsya moved to Perth with his family aged 14 he was unable to speak a word of English.

But he says soccer helped with his transition to Australia, needing to speak the language to make himself heard on the field and eventually doing well enough at both to win a soccer scholarship at the AIS.

Rukavytsya still speaks with an unmistakeable Eastern European accent, but has left little doubt his allegiances lie with his adopted country.

While eligible to play for Australia and the Ukraine - quarter-finalists at the 2006 World Cup - he chose the Socceroos and cemented his choice with selection for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The former Perth Glory A-League player is convinced he can secure another European contract, and will wait until the World Cup unfolds before sorting out his club situation.

"Obviously I want to go to a good club, and definitely I want to stay in Europe," he said.

"I have to see what options I have and choose what's best for me."

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