Reading's Australian goalkeeper Adam Federici says he could not turn down the chance to play for his country at the Beijing Olympics.
Federici will miss the start of the season with Reading should Australia qualify for the knock-out stages.
He told BBC Radio Berkshire: "I was hoping to be challenging Marcus Hahnemann, but the opportunity of playing at the Olympics was too great." "I'm going to be playing internationals and I'll return with good experience."
He added: "Any opportunity to represent your country, at any level or competition, is a great honour.
Federici, who comes from Jervis Bay in Australia, says his national team is continuing to improve as football becomes more and more popular.
"Australia is a sporting nation - everyone loves the sport no matter what it is, as long as there's the green and gold.""There are some great players - we have a lot of youngsters coming through, spread out all over Europe and in Australia.
"It's a good team and it should be interesting getting together with the boys.
"I've been home recently and it's all over the news. Anything the Socceroos did made it into the headlines, which was a bit of a surprise really as it's never been like that before.
"It's being taken more seriously and the A-league is taking off over there. They get big crowds to the games.
"So this is a great opportunity to cement Australia as a major competitor in all competitions in football.
"Australia is a sporting nation - everyone loves the sport no matter what it is, as long as there's the green and gold.
"If we do as well as the Socceroos did in the last world cup, maybe even winning the tournament, it's just going to grow and grow."
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