Just like any football fan who sits down to watch the World Cup, the Socceroos also harboured dreams of one day taking part on their sport's biggest stage.

Midfielder Vinnie Grella's earliest memories are watching the 1986 World Cup finals as a seven-year-old.

"Just watching a fantastic player playing for Argentina - the No.10," Grella says of watching Diego Maradona win the tournament for his nation.

"Little bit chubby but he could dribble a bit," he jokes.

Midfield gun Tim Cahill remembers backyard World Cup matches at the Sydney home he grew up in.

"It goes back to being a little kid playing with my brothers and cousins in the garden and pretending I was playing at a World Cup," he told AAP.

"There's so many memories. Roberto Baggio kicking the penalty over the posts in the (1994) final, some of the great football you saw.

"You always think to yourself, I want to be able to do that one day - play in a World Cup."

Grella and Cahill are about do what few of those who ever dream about playing in a World Cup ever do - play in two.

Both featured in the Socceroos' dream run in the 2006 tournament, and back up again for 2010.

For the younger Socceroos going to the World Cup, like striker Nikita Rukavytsya, actually running out on to the field will be as magical an experience as a football fan could ever imagine.

"I don't remember how old I was but the first World Cup I watched it was like 'wow, it's amazing, it's unbelievable how these players play'," said Rukavytsya, who grew up in the Ukraine and emigrated to Australia at 14.

"Just being here and experiencing it all now, it's a dream come true."

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