The chance of a lifetime dangled in front of Luis Robles.
The goalkeeper's unlikely soccer journey from Sierra Vista Buena High School to the University of Portland to the German professional league had evolved, delightfully, into this: an invitation to work out with the United States national team May 26-31.
He accepted, and impressed.
Even though Robles was not placed on the active roster, he was asked to accompany the national team from Miami to a FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Costa Rica on Wednesday.
After a lifetime of dreaming, Ro-bles was getting his first chance at soccer on the world stage.
He said no.
"I'm only getting married once," he said. "I don't want to mess that up."
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Sunday in Sierra Vista, Robles will marry Cara Youngblood, whom he first dated in high school. The two stayed in contact after they left home, in part because her parents moved across the street from his. They got back together and fell back in love.
Conceivably, the 25-year-old Robles could have flown to Costa Rica and returned in time for the wedding. But maybe he would have missed his bachelor party, spent less time with relatives who had flown in from Korea, or been absent for the rest of the hectic hubbub that happens during the week of a wedding.
"I knew what a great opportunity that was," Youngblood said. "I said, 'If you feel like you need to go, we'll make it work' — because he'd be back in time."
His decision to stay made his wife-to-be smile.
"It was," she said, "a very good answer."
Sunday could be a memorable day for Robles for another reason: He likely will be named to the United States' FIFA Confederations Cup roster.
The games start next week in South Africa, the home of next year's World Cup, and feature eight countries, most of which were declared champions of their continents.
The U.S. team, which plays Honduras today in Chicago, will play, among others, Italy and Brazil.
Even if Robles doesn't make the roster, it's clear he is part of the team's future, in some regard.
Given the nature of international soccer, Robles' simple participation in camp was the highlight of his career thus far — and might be the pinnacle of any male soccer player in Southern Arizona's history.
"Going into camp is only giving me more confidence," he said. "In your own environment, you never get to see what you've sown.
"Now you're like, 'Wow, I've really grown as a player.'
"I definitely didn't feel out of place. That was the thing that surprised me the most."
Robles expected the jump to be more drastic, the way it was in 2006, when he eschewed Major League Soccer and flew to Germany to try out for professional teams. The first day, he worked out with FC Kaiserslautern because it was near his agent's home.
He signed with the club one week later.
"There was a big gap then," he said.
Robles began this past season as the backup goalkeeper for the Bundesliga 2 team, making his pro debut in October. He moved to the starting spot when Tobias Sippel broke his arm.
Robles won the job away from Sippel during the league's winter break. After an ankle injury sidelined Robles for weeks, he returned and started the team's final four games.
"It was an incredible year," said Robles, who was engaged in December.
"A crazy, crazy year."
In the fall, Youngblood visited Robles and found it funny that children would wait for his autograph after games.
When she returned in the spring, Robles had become a star. One night they went to dinner in a large group, and kids at an adjoining table sketched a picture of the goalie because they were thrilled to see him.
"It was cool, because people knew who he was," said Youngblood, a UA graduate who had been working in Albuquerque. "It's funny, because to me, he's just my fiancé."
After Sunday, he'll be her husband.
And maybe one day, a member of the national team.
"As far as soccer goes, the biggest thing you can do is the World Cup," he said. "And the only way to get there is to be on the national team."
