The vastly-experienced Petras has been playing for Slovakia since 2002 and will be a vital source of leadership on and off the pitch in South Africa.

The 30-year-old defender, who can operate in the centre or on the right, played in half his country's 10 qualifying matches of which they won four including the crucial 1-0 victory against Poland which sealed their progression.

Petras has won nearly 40 caps and although he's so far netted just the one goal, at 6ft 1in he's still regarded a threat in the air at set-plays and has also built a reputation for being a no-nonsense tough-tackler.

At club level, Petras has been plying his trade in Italy over the past four years with Lecce, Treviso, Triestina and most recently Cesena, whom he helped earn a swift promotion back to Serie B for next season.

Of course this is undeniably a drop in class for a player who enjoyed the highs of regular Champions League football for three successive seasons from 2003 to 2006 during his time with Sparta Prague earlier on his career - battling against the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Milan - but at least he won't be fazed by the big stage this summer.

Fans of Scottish football might recall Petras from a very brief loan stint at Hearts in 2006 but he only played five times before returning to Kaunas, who subsequently released him. And that's when his journey to Italy began.