Robbie Kruse did not forget to thank the city that helped resurrect his career after his brilliant performance for Australia on Tuesday.
The 24-year old winger provided two assists and scored a lovely goal as the Socceroos beat Jordan 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium to give themselves every chance of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Kruse's career was at the crossroads when he as at the Brisbane Roar back in 2009 but things have been on the up since he moved to the Melbourne Victory and then onto Fortuna Dusseldorf.
After celebrating the signing of a three-year deal with Bayer Leverkusen with his sublime showing for his country, Kruse made sure he thanked those that helped him get where he is today.
"Obviously I moved down to Melbourne and it definitely helped me set a great platform for me and my career," Kruse said as the Socceroos now prepare for Iraq in Sydney next week.
"I'm forever grateful to Melbourne for that and the fans have always treated me wonderful and it was great for the atmosphere that they came out.
"And bringing the stands in truly set up a wonderful atmosphere and I think we buzzed off that.
"Hopefully now Sydney can come out in their droves and we can really get a good performance and get the three points next week.
"It all boils down to this - the last two to three years qualifying it all comes down to this one game.
"If we can win this, we're in Brazil so it's a massive occasion but first and foremost we must recover and repair our bodies for the challenge next week."
