BROOKLYN, New York -- Put yourself, briefly, in the shoes of Max Balard. Or in those of Cammy Devlin, or Kai Trewin, Paul Okon-Engstler, Adrian Segečić, Alex Robertson, or any number of hopeful Socceroos called into camp by Tony Popovic. You're excited, you're hoping to get a chance to get out there and represent your country, to live you childhood dreams. Heck, maybe you're Miloš Degenek instead and, after an extended period away from the national side, you've been called back in and are hopeful of a chance to pull on that famous green-and-gold shirt once more.
Then, the first game comes ... and you don't play. Then the second game comes ... and again you don't play. Ouch.
It's become one of the more notable motifs of Popovic's first year in charge of Australia's national team; that players called into their first training camp tend to sit out both games. It's not a hard and fast rule, of course; Jacob Italiano started against both Canada and the United States in his first camp, for example, while those with a pre-existing relationship with the coach -- like Nishan Velupillay or Jason Geria -- have also been thrown straight into the action. But it's become frequent enough at this point to label it a clear trend for the Socceroos under Popovic.
Why does it happen? Much of the reasoning seems to revolve around the elite environment and the flood of information that hits players when they first enter camp with the famously detail-focused Popovic. It's about responding to that, adapting to that, and proving to the coaches that you've absorbed enough of it to earn their trust to execute on the pitch. If you can demonstrate that quickly, like Italiano, you're a chance to play. If you need a little bit of time but can demonstrate that you're receptive to the information and willing to put in the hard work to be better, you might need to wait a camp.
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"You're looking to see how they can adapt, how they can take in the messaging, and how they're fitting into the playing style," assistant coach Hayden Foxe told ESPN. "Because the level from club football to international football is a big step up, not only in playing style and intensity, but also mentally and expectation ... that's the pressure of playing for Australia.
"Sometimes the players come in and they're adapting; and you always find that after they've been in with us for a week, that first week, in the time for the second game in that window, you see the improvements and the adaptation to the intensity and the level of the training.
"Some players are able to come in, and they're able to adapt straight away, quickly. With Jacob [Italiano], he came in and he did really well. He's been preparing himself and waiting for a moment like this for him to come in and get his opportunity."
Of course, not everyone plays straight away. Take Balard, for instance. The young midfielder was first called into camp last November, only to sit on the bench for games against Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. He was then brought into an Abu Dhabi-based training camp staged ahead of qualifiers against Japan and Saudi Arabia, only to return home with some feedback from Popovic.
The midfielder is one of the smartest footballers you'll ever come across; he's got a double degree in economics and commerce from the University of New South Wales, speaks fluent French, a bit of Spanish and is slowly coming to grips with a bit of Dutch. But hearing his experience, one can see how it's a lot to take in for even someone with his sharpness.
"You definitely build up familiarity with what's expected of you and the standards that are set here," the NAC Breda midfielder told ESPN. "When you first arrive, you're not quite sure what's going on, where you have to be, at what times, and stuff like that. Now, I'm starting to understand the kind of schedule of what the camp looks like, and the training sessions, what to expect from them, and the high standard that's set in those sessions.
"[Popovic] makes sure that you're aware that you have to be on the ball. He'll set the standard very high, straight away from you. It doesn't matter if it's your first camp or your 100th camp; the standard is set, and he expects it. He doesn't want it; he expects it from you.
"It's something that you learn very quickly. You're travelling a long distance, when you come from Europe back to Australia, you've got a bit of jet lag, and you think maybe you'll take it easy, try to get in and get it day by day.
"But it goes very fast. You're quickly into it. You're quickly doing your medical testing and your physical testing as well, making sure you're up to standards. After your first camp, you realise that you have to be on the ball straight away."
The big one, of course, is training. Popovic is famous for his exacting standards on the training track, famously telling his then Melbourne Victory side in the club-produced Dream Big documentary, "You can train s---. I can accept that. And me and the staff will work hard to help you get better ... when I see in someone's eyes that they want to get better, I'll do anything for you.
"But if you give me the wrong attitude, you're gone to me."
Fast forward to today, and speak to any member of the Socceroos setup, be it an established veteran or a fresh-faced initiate, and they'll remark on the intensity of training. Even on Saturday, when the small handful of players not involved in the previous night's 1-0 loss to Venezuela were being put through their paces, Foxe was on them; extolling them not to be lazy and praising their intensity.
"They speak to you when you do certain actions, good or bad, in training, they'll pull you up on it and help you [zero in on] what they're asking for," Devlin told ESPN. "And whether it's something more general or whether it is something so specific to the individual, when they are pulling you up, it's actually taking that information in and listening. They've not only done that with me, but with every player.
"It's about creating an environment where everyone's improving, everyone's learning. And I think we definitely have that here. Every time you step on the training pitch, it's really intense. Everyone's 100 miles an hour trying to impress."
The lessons don't just come from the coaching staff, though. Becoming Socceroo number 656 when he started in against Venezuela, Trewin was twice an unused member of squads before he finally made his debut, part of the squad for the March and June World Cup qualifiers. One can easily see how that could have been frustrating for the defender -- even if his center back position is arguably the deepest position Socceroos boss Popovic can call on.
But in the wake of Trewin's debut, in which he played a full 90 minutes at Shell Energy Stadium, the defender did acknowledge that the time spent on the sidelines, while frustrating, did afford him the chance to listen and learn.
"You see the games that are do-or-die in the World Cup qualifiers and the level of the players and the standards that the coaches expect," Trewin told ESPN. "And I think that's helped me a lot. Now I'm trying to be at that level all the time, and even when I'm at home in Melbourne City, just trying to be at that level all the time has helped me get to where I am today.
"It's massive [the learning curve]. It changes you as a person and a player coming in. You think the standards at your club level are high. And then you come in here, and it's a whole different level. The quality of the players is on another planet. Just being in here every day keeps improving you as a person and a player."
Of course, the coaches know that there's a learning curve. It's built into their thinking. What they want to see, however, is not only the ability to adapt and learn a new way of playing but also a concerted willingness to do so.
"Understanding what we want; It's not easy," Foxe explained to ESPN. "They all have their own playing styles in their club football, so that becomes their habits, that becomes their norm, because that's what they've been training.
"The most difficult thing for them is that they're being taught one thing day to day, and then they come in and they've been told to do something differently. You have to be flexible. And that's what we're looking for in the players; that they're able to be flexible in terms of taking the information on and changing the style from their club and coming into our environment, and then executing what we're asking them to do."
That flexibility, developing that trust, is part of the national team culture that has been curated under Popovic. Each player striving as hard as possible to make the cut, to make the World Cup squad, and not hear the Socceroos boss utter those now infamous words: "You're gone to me."