Cameron Devlin couldn't think of a better way to move forward from the hurt of recent months than a World Cup call-up.
The hard-nosed Hearts midfielder had his own heart shattered when the Scottish club lost to Celtic on the final day of the Scottish Premiership - and lost the title with it.
Celtic fans stormed the pitch after the victory, making a nightmare day for Devlin and his teammates even worse.
"It was horrible, to be honest," Devlin said.
"I didn't envision the last game of the season kind of going the way it did in terms of the result and with the scenes you all would have seen.
"That's not what football is about. Obviously they won the game and they were the champions.
"But just the way it all happened, the last week with some of the decisions and stuff - it puts a bit of a sour taste on the ending to what was such a good season for such a special club."
Devlin, who turned 28 on Sunday, cut a frustrated figure as he remembered the scenes.
"It's just frustrating the way it finished, with all of the fans running on the field. None of the players got hurt, but it wasn't nice and it never is," he said.
"But at the end of the day, we didn't quite get it over the line, which is something that will take a while.
"But I'm quite fortunate that I get to come in here and a World Cup's a good thing to forget about things back at club."
Devlin got his first Socceroos minutes in close to two years, and his first under Tony Popovic, in Saturday's 1-1 draw against Switzerland.
"I had to remind myself I had to go out there and really stake my claim," Devlin said.
"I had 10 minutes to do the best I could to put my best foot forward like I always try and do."
Devlin has been a fan favourite and enjoyed sensational form at Hearts but is now off-contract.
But he won't let thoughts around where his club future lies affect his focus on the World Cup.
"It's hard because obviously I know I've got a massive decision to make," Devlin said.
"This (World Cup) is the pinnacle for any sportsman. So to be focusing on someone else at the moment is probably not the right thing to do.
"Obviously, it's hard because my future, I'm not sure what's happening at the moment.
"My coach at Hearts (Derek McInnes) - me and him have such a great relationship and we're speaking regularly at the moment, which is really good, and Hearts is such an amazing place. I feel so at home there.
"So it's something that I actually don't know at the moment. And like I said, I've got a World Cup to focus on. So that's my main priority at the moment."
