The Valeri name is a well-known one in the local footballing fraternity with Cesar Valeri being responsible for starting the Hanwood club, however, Frank Valeri and the rest of his family had a personal connection to this morning's clash with Germany with their cousin Carl Valeri etching his name in this country's sporting folklore, after he earnt a place on Pim Verbeek's starting side.

"We got an email from his father and apparently he's made the starting side for tomorrow's (this mornings) game which is huge," Frank Valeri

"How big is the World Cup, and everybody's anticipating this game and in order to keep things under wraps the team wasn't announced until earlier this morning (Sunday).

"To say you've played in a World Cup finals, in soccer it doesn't get much bigger than that."

Despite plying his trade overseas with his current club Sassuolo in Serie B in Italy, Valeri has often found time to come to Griffith in the past with Theo Valeri usually the beneficiary with plenty of sought-after memorabilia now in his possession.

"Carl has come home a couple of times in the last few of years, but of course he's been pretty tied up especially since he's been drafted to his Italian team," Frank said.

"When they signed him he only had about a week or two to the year, but he has come down here a couple of times to visit."

The outcome of this morning's match will have a large bearing on Australia's chances of making it past the group stage of the biggest sporting event in the world, with a draw almost as good as a win for the Socceroos as they look to again prove they deserve a seat at the world football table.