Club Brugge goalkeeper Mat Ryan admits the international retirement of Chelsea counterpart Mark Schwarzer has pushed the door right open for his Australian national team career.
The 21-year old has emerged as one of two young glovemen to become the Socceroos new number one, along with Borussia Dortmund's Mitch Langerak, and he admits that he has had to alter his goals going forward now that the veteran is no longer in the picture.
"Since (Schwarzer's) retirement I've sort of had to reassess my goals a little bit with the national team," Ryan told au.fourfourtwo.com.
"The position there is now open for someone to stake their claim for. There's no clear number one anymore.
"Obviously all of us goalkeepers who are all vying for that spot want to cement it for the future for the upcoming World Cup.
"I'm glad that I had first opportunity against Costa Rica (in November) to play and hopefully he's pleased with what I had to offer and I get an opportunity to keep playing in that position in the future."
