Having put himself through a punishing training schedule to get himself in top condition for the World Cup you might think Exeter linesman Mike Mullarkey would be hoping to officiate in the latter stages of the tournament in Brazil.
Mullarkey, 43, officiated at the World Cup final in South Africa four years ago with referee Howard Webb fellow assistant- referee Darren Cann.
However, no match officials have ever refereed two World Cup finals in the modern game so he chances of taking charge of the showpiece game at the Estádio do Maracanã on July 20 are even more remote than England's prospects of playing in it.
And if Roy Hodgson's men do upset the odds and get to the latter stages of the tournament that could also hinder Mullarkey's chances of taking charge of a big game.
However, it is something he's happy to accept. "We would be delighted to take a back seat if it meant that the England team were performing very well," said Mullarkey, who flew out to Brazil on Saturday, June 7.
"It is very cliché, but it would be wrong of us to go into a tournament eyeing any particular game.
"We are delighted to have been selected and whatever games we are appointed to we will gratefully accept.
"I think it is right to say that the final is something that is given to official only once."
Mullarkey is well versed in officiating at top level matches though. He ran the line in the 2014 World Cup qualifying match between Sweden and Portugal last autumn and has also taken charge of top European games and FA Cup matches.
However, a World Cup in Brazil will be a step up. Not only are most of the players at the top of their game, the humidity and heat in South America poses its own problems.
As a result Mullarkey has been working hard to get himself ready, pushing himself to the point of exhaustion in some of the training schedules to make sure he can keep up with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as they look to spring the offside trap.
"The training schedule has one or two rest days in the seven, but within that there is a mixture of sessions," said Mullarkey. "It includes a session is quite physically demanding with a series of sprints, with insufficient recovery time, so each one is being done when you are slightly more fatigued to the point of exhaustion.
"Other training days can be more fast feet and speed-based work. This is where you are not working physically as hard, but you are working at maximum speed, with decent recovery.
"In a tournament like this when you have got the best players in the world at the peak of their physical condition, so we have got to be in the best shape that we can be.
"The demands are going to be a little bit greater, than the Premier League, given the heat and potential humidity in some of the venues. The pace of the game might not be any different to the games that we are used to in the Premier League and the Champions League, but I think that the difference in climate and the fact that it is the ultimate football tournament means that we have to make sure we are in the best possible shape that we can be.
Asked if the increased speed of some of the players at the World Cup could pose more problems for him, than in Premier League games, Mullarkey added: "We do an awful lot of training, as assistant, around offside.
"We will have scenarios in training where we will have a defender sprinting out and an attacker sprinting through and the ball being is played through.
"We will make four or five judgement in quick succession and then we will watch them back on the video.
"We will see if the judgement was correct and if our positioning was correct. Certainly with offside being in positioned well, with the second to last defender, is vital.
"If you are in the correct position then the judgement becomes easier. Then there is that experience that comes in. You know on a quick crossover, if a player looks, to the naked eye, ahead of play and offside experience and that training tells you that the chances are he won't be. It is trusting that skill and experience which builds up over a number of years."
