It may be a distant dream but Frank Nouble is clinging to the hope that he can be Town’s only player at next summer’s World Cup to be hosted by Brazil.
The 22-year-old striker represented England in his teens but is eligible to play for the Ivory Coast, who have booked their place in the 2014 jamboree and will play Colombia, Greece and Japan in Group C.
Nouble said: "I’m quite lucky because the Ivory Coast football people are very close to my family and my extended family. I’m still friends with Salomon Kalou [ex-Chelsea, now with Lille] so I still integrate with them.
"I’ve already been training with the national team about two and a half years ago, but I chose to play for the England U19s. I’m still eligible for the Ivory Coast and if my chance comes I will go.
"If I’m playing — and scoring — regularly for Ipswich I believe the chance will come. The next generation of players for the Ivory Coast has got to come through. Drogba, the Toure brothers, Gervinho, they’re all getting older and Brazil will be their last major tournament.
In action for England's U19s
"Can I get on the plane to Brazil? Anything can happen. Jordan Rhodes hit a rich vein of form and now he’s playing for Scotland. It’s all about me and my form. If I’m doing well I’m sure that call-up won’t be far away.”
Nouble admitted that rarely a day goes by without him dreaming of taking part in the biggest tournament of them all, if not in Brazil next year then at a future event.
He added: "The thought of playing in the World Cup is always in my mind. I really want to do it, for me and for my parents to make them proud. They were both born in the Ivory Coast and they came over here and had me.
"I was born in Peckham. It would make me happy because I have a lot of aunts, uncles and cousins, and in my community there are a lot of Ivorians who speak French at home. I grew up in a French-speaking house so I didn’t need to learn it in school.
"Freddie Veseli and I speak French all the time on the training ground. We’re lucky because we can talk about anything we want and nobody else knows what we are saying!”