MARVIN ANDREWS knows only too well that tomorrow's Champions League knockout phase draw in Nyon will serve up the starter for the main course he's already got on order for next summer.
Last Friday night the Rangers defender watched Trinidad and Tobago tumble out alongside England in the World Cup draw made in Leipzig.
Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen are now on the menu for Andrews at the Finals in Germany in just six months' time.
So, as he prepared to learn Gers' fate with the rest of his team-mates, Andrews' response to the prospect of facing one from Thierry Henry, Fernando Morientes, Andriy Shevchenko, Samuel Eto'o, Diego Forlan, David Trezeguet or Sylvain Wiltord, is simply one of bring it on.
He smiled: "When you go through the list of names like that it's going to be some draw. I already have England to look forward to in the summer and that is going to be a massive challenge, but something in the distance really.
"Right now it's about Rangers and the draw for the last 16 and we have all seen the seven teams we can get tomorrow.
"They are all world-class sides and, when you come up against that type of quality, then you know you'll be facing some of the best strikers in the business.
"But that is the challenge for me to embrace and, God willing, I can strive to meet it head on.
"It's a fantastic opportunity for everyone at Rangers and we just need to see who we get tomorrow.
"I am sure the word will come into the training ground quickly and it will be very exciting to see which team we draw in the last 16."
Andrews, of course, has already had a taster of what life at that stage will be like, with Rangers sure to get one from Arsenal, Liverpool, AC Milan, Juventus, Villarreal, Barcelona or Lyon when their fate is decided at 11am.
Nine days ago he had the thankless task of trying to mark Adriano, the Brazilian who is rated as one of the top five strikers in the game.
While Adriano and the rest of the under-strength Inter Milan team weren't exactly at full pelt at Ibrox, it was still a huge test for Andrews, a player just into his second season in light blue.
His only lapse of the night was to allow Adriano a yard to head home Inter's opening goal, although in the end it didn't prove fatal as Peter Lovenkrands struck back to send Rangers on the way to creating history.
Andrews, who turns 30 next week, said: "He was a very powerful man, and amazingly quick on the ground for his size.
"Soto Kyrgiakos had played against him before and we spoke about the ways to try and stop him, which is not easy.
"But the only way you can ever improve as a defender is by testing yourself against these guys.
"When I was a young kid dreaming of becoming a professional player I wanted to play for a big club, take on big names in Europe, even make a World Cup - so it's a dream come true for me now."
Rangers no doubt will be the team everyone wants to draw as they will be deemed the best chance of a passport to the quarter-finals, given that giants like Chelsea and Real Madrid, Ajax and Bayern Munich are also in the group runners-up pot.
But Andrews insists that Alex McLeish's side are not just looking at this as making up the numbers.
They have already punched above their weight, coming through in second place behind Inter despite the fact they were third seeds in the group stage draw.
And, with new faces set to arrive, and key players returning from injuries, they are determined to give it a real go.
As Andrews said: "It was a great achievement from us. We have made history and reached uncharted waters.
"But we have to believe we can do well, no matter who we get. It's a two-leg game now and we simply have to give it everything.
"I know the manager will look to have more options and that can only be a good thing.
"I think some people have forgotten that we drew with Porto away, and Inter at home, in our last two games with seven or eight players injured in the stands.
"We have also been doing very well at home in Europe and the first match is at Ibrox. So there is plenty for us to take into these games."