The son of iconic Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer is battling to follow in his father's famous footsteps with a lack of height stalling his progress in Europe.
Julian Schwarzer has previously been part of Fulham's youth set-up and spent last year with lower league English club Basingstoke Town where he was crowned their away player of the season.
The 21-year-old has however struggled to make bigger strides in his career as a goalkeeper due to a perceived lack of height.
Currently standing at 181 centimetres tall, 14cm shorter than his father, clubs across Europe haven't been willing to give Julian a proper chance.
As a result, the young shot-stopper is set to head to the Philippines where he'll get a greater chance to play and potentially secure a place in their national team set-up.
Mark Schwarzer, speaking to Sporting News in association with sports betting community OLBG, revealed his son's next steps and why he's had to look elsewhere for an opportunity.
"He’s in a bit of a limbo at the moment because he’s in the process of getting his visa sorted out to go to the Philippines," Schwarzer said.
"My wife has Filipino nationality and our son has the eligibility to play for the Philippines so there’s the opportunity for him to go over there and play for a development side which is their Under 23 national team.
"The manager is very keen to have him there, a man called Scott Cooper, who manages the national team.
"Once he gets over there there’s an opportunity to play games, play at the top level in the Philippines with the view to prepare him for Under 23 national team games but also the long-term view of having him in and around the national team and of course just being in the shop window.
"Unfortunately for my son he’s not tall enough to play in Europe as a goalkeeper.
"He’s just under six foot. In Asia that height is acceptable but anywhere in Europe it’s not unless you’re playing in a lower league. Even then there’s a lot of managers of clubs who wouldn’t even be interested in him because they just think he’s not tall enough and that he can’t come out and dominate his 18-yard box even though that’s one of the stronger points of his game."
As the son of a Socceroo who made those famous penalty saves in 2005, Julian didn't initially choose to play as a goalkeeper and remains capable of lining up without gloves when needed.
"He’s a very skilled outfield player as well," Schwarzer said.
"In pre-season he’s come on for Fulham’s U23’s as an outfield player and then for Basingstoke they’ve actually made him their number one keeper but with the view that if games are in a certain situation and they maybe need something extra he’ll come out of goal and play on the field.
"The transition happened when he was about 15 and he decided he wanted to give goalkeeping a go.
"He always used to play in the garden in goal and all sorts of stuff so he had a natural pull to it and he’s done incredibly well seeing as he’s only played there for six years now."