Thomas Broich admits the chance to face Manchester United is a dream come true but says he won't be trying too hard against his heroes.
When Thomas Broich came to Australia, taking on some of the powerhouses of European football was the furthest thing from his mind.
In fact, if he-s being honest, he didn-t really think that opportunity would come around again.
The German-s story is well known, a talented youngster he was considered a future star in his homeland but for many reasons things just didn-t work out for him and he found himself heading to Australia and Brisbane Roar.
Now he-s set to be thrust back into the eyes of the world as an A-League All Star and is salivating at the chance to be let off the attacking leash by a man who has already seen so much success with him, All Stars coach Ange Postecoglou.
“It feels a bit unreal because I didn-t have that (playing United) in mind when I chose to come to Australia, but to have that chance again against a big team is a dream come true,” Broich said at the launch of the Foxtel A-League All Stars kit in Sydney on Tuesday afternoon.
“Working with Ange again, it-s very special, we will go into camp, we get to work together for a small amount of time we have great memories and maybe we can add more to that.
“Ange is known for a very offensive style of football and he is not known for hiding so we will take our chances and attack.”
That all-out attack philosophy could see some magic from Broich but what he would like to see is some magic from a Manchester United player who was a childhood hero of his own, and Broich joked he won-t be making any tackles on that man - Red Devils- legend Ryan Giggs.
“There are only a few clubs in the world as big as Man United; it-s going to be a tough game but one I look forward to.
"Some of my childhood heroes are still there playing in the tea;, Ryan Giggs has just signed on for another year and it will be amazing to play with those guys. I-m not going to tackle him though he deserves better,” Broich joked.
“All I want is his jersey afterwards.”
While all Broich wants is Giggs-s jersey one man who was with him would like nothing more than to stop Giggs and his cohorts in his tracks, arguably the best defender in the A-League last season, Wanderers FC man Nikoloai Topor-Stanley has earned his spot in this side and sees it as a huge opportunity for himself.
“It-s a huge opportunity to compete against some amazing players,” Topor-Stanley said before admitting no matter what it would be a career highlight.
“It-s right up there in my career. To have the opportunity to take the field against international players who are world class is a dream come true, hopefully I get as many minutes as possible.”