Defender Ian Cox is keeping his feet on the ground over Trinidad and Tobago's World Cup showdown with England - and insists his club form is important.
"Thoughts of playing against those sort of players couldn't have been further from my mind," he told BBC Sport.
"The dream is close to becoming a reality, if I'm selected - but I've got to focus on here at Gillingham.
"I need to keep up my form to get in the squad, so if it's God's will that I'm picked I'll be eternally grateful."
Croydon-born Cox came on as a substitute in the crucial second leg of their qualifying play-off against Bahrain as the Caribbean side reached their first World Cup finals.
The Soca Warriors have a number of British-based players vying for a place in coach Leo Beenhakker's squad - mostly from the English lower divisions.
Cox was alongside his club and international team-mate Brent Sancho when the draw was made back on 9 December - and they were drawn in Group B alongside England, Sweden and Paraguay.
"Brent and I were watching the draw on the TV, and I couldn't believe it at first - it took a little time to sink in," the 34-year-old said.
"But we were overjoyed to have pulled England out - it's such a great draw.
"If you'd asked any of the Trinidad boys who are playing over there, who would they have liked in their group, England would have been one of the main teams they'd have said.
"Because of the ties and the links with England, it's given it added spice and taken the excitement on to a different level, but I've got a lot of hard work to do here before then.
"It's the stuff that dreams are made of - just thinking about it gives me goose pimples, but I've got to keep my feet on the ground - I can't afford to get sidetracked from what I've got to do."
Cox and his fellow defenders will undoubtedly have their hands full keeping Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen at bay in Nuremberg on 15 June.
However, at the other end of the pitch could be a former team-mate of Cox's from nine years ago.
In November 1996, Cox was at Bournemouth and had recently been switched from midfield to central defence by manager Mel Machin.
But he was soon joined in the Cherries' rearguard by an accomplished young defender on loan from West Ham United, who had just turned 18 that week - a certain Rio Ferdinand.
Cox, then 25, felt the teenager's class was clear from the outset.
"When he turned up at Bournemouth, I remember thinking 'this is the best player I've ever played with', and he was only a kid at the time," Cox recalls.
"Everything about him - his touch, his vision, his composure was class - I was older than him, but I learnt so much from Rio, even though he was only 18.
"Rio helped my game come on, so that's a testament to him. He was such a nice person as well, but for me, seeing the way he trained and played, it was a joy and a privilege to play with someone of that calibre."
The Ferdinand-Cox partnership lasted just 10 games before Ferdinand was recalled by the Hammers in January 1997.
The aspiring centre-back soon hit the big time, earning his first England cap later that year, and earning multi-million-pound moves to Leeds United and then Manchester United.
Cox's progress has been more humble - joining Burnley for £500,000 in 2000 and helping them to promotion to the old First Division, before moving to Gillingham in the summer of 2003.
But he will put aside any thoughts of a reunion with Ferdinand while he concentrates on lifting the Kent club away from the wrong end of League One.
"The bottom line is that if I'm not doing well here and have a loss of form or whatever, there's less of a chance I'll get selected for the squad," he admitted.
"So I've got to remain focused and help pull the Gills away from this relegation battle we're in. If it will be, it will be - fingers crossed."