This didn’t matter though as kids lined up inside the high school’s hall to grab a picture or simply shake his hand after he delivered a memorable presentation.

He said it was important for people to step out of their comfort zone, no matter how far. “I’m hoping that they came up because they might have heard even one thing in my presentation that sparked something inside them,” he said. 

“At their age it’s pretty tough to come up to a guy and shake his hand. It’s not as if they don’t want to do it, they’re just shy, or they think it’s not very cool.”

He discussed his time as a Socceroo and how he struggled with epilepsy, but what he hoped to do that day for the hundred-plus students was simply “inspire them.”

He said he hoped his speech would push people to use their full potential. 

“Sometimes at that age I think it’s so difficult, because being ... whatever, seems so far away and sometimes a lot of them don’t think they’re old enough to make massive steps into university or what-have-you,” he said.

“I can understand that it’s quite daunting but if I can encourage them that I was where they were, I had pimples, I had no self-confidence, but if you just keep working at it you never know what could happen.”

While he didn’t think himself famous, he did recognise that because he struggled with epilepsy, he had the ability to make a difference.

“Because I know so many people with epilepsy I feel that with my profile I should do it, I’m obliged to do it,” he said.

“So while I’ve got people, that’s when I can launch in and talk about the biggest challenge of my life.

“It wasn’t against Maradona, it was dealing with seizures five times a day.”

What did he ask of the students in return for listening?

A little nod of appreciation. “When they make it, when they become famous and successful, if they wouldn’t mind writing a line in their book that I did this presentation, that would be nice,” he said.