Hard slog for Australia in South Africa (Team Profile)

SYDNEY - The Australian government hopes a good showing in South Africa will increase its chances of hosting the World Cup but die-hard soccer fans fear the nation’s best chance of lifting the trophy has been and gone.

Four years ago in Germany the Socceroos - in only their second World Cup appearance - went out to a controversial late penalty against Italy in a game that could have seen them make the last eight.

Fast forward to South Africa 2010 and Australia are without world-class coach Guus Hiddink. It’s an unsettled side, with Hiddink’s successor, fellow Dutchman Pim Verbeek, still experimenting with the line-up.

Verbeek is a less inspiring leader than the maestro who took both Holland and South Korea to World Cup semi-finals and anything short of matching the 2006 heroics will be seen as a failure.

For an Australian public that expects to win - it has world-class rugby and cricket teams - just being in the finals is not enough any more. This time round, there hasn’t been the same excitement as there was when the Socceroos made it to Germany and lack of support may affect their game.

Former Socceroos captain Paul Wade despairs at the team’s difficulty in finding the net.

In 14 World Cup qualifying matches, Australia scored 19 goals, an average of 1.36 a game. This compares with England’s 34 goals, Spain’s 28 and Germany’s 26 in their 10 qualifying matches.

“You can’t defend for 90 minutes at the World Cup,” Wade said. “We’re just too slow with our build-up out of midfield.”

John Kosmina, another former Australian international, regrets that the team has come to rely on the brilliance of Everton acting captain Tim Cahill to get on the scoresheet.

Cahill was the saviour in Germany, scoring twice in 10 minutes in the opening game against Japan, who were then the Asian champions.

Asked what he would do in the absence of golden boy Cahill, Verbeek responded: “Pick another striker and hope and pray that he can do the same, but probably he can’t because Timmy is special, of course, that’s what we all know.”

The shallowness of talent is evident in captain Lucas Neill’s problems making Everton’s first team.

The squad has members who play for clubs in Japan, China, Greece, Turkey as well as the more traditional European footballing nations. Some, like Neill, are not getting the top-class competition they need to take on the best in South Africa.

The Coach:

Dour Dutchman Pim Verbeek took over as coach of Australia at the end of 2007 and has steered the team to its third World Cup appearance.

The 53-year-old ended his playing career in 1980 and has since job-hopped around the world. His last post was as coach of South Korea, where he had been assistant to Guus Hiddink when they were World Cup semi-finalists in 2002. Verbeek has coached two Rotterdam teams, Feyenoord and Sparta.

To the criticism that his team lacks speed and flair, Verbeek responds with the fact that he has delivered a third World Cup appearance.

He plays with one striker and his focus is in not conceding goals - a plan helped by the competence of Socceroo and Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.

“There has to be a change of mindset coming out of midfield,” said former international John Cosmina of Verbeek’s cautious style of play. “The ball’s going backwards or sideways too often.”

The Star:

There was midfield giant Mark Viduka, then the mercurial Harry Kewell: the undisputed ace in the Socceroos pack is now midfielder Tim Cahill.

“He’s always there at the right moment,” national coach Pim Verbeek said of the diminutive Everton captain that fans like to call Tiny Tim.

He came into the side in 2004 when he was with English side Millwall, moving to the Liverpool club the same year after helping Millwall to an FA Cup final appearance.

The Sydney-born 29-year-old, who as a teenager played for Western Samoa, is happy being Verbeek’s go-to man.

“I want to be the person they rely on. I want to be the person they turn to,” he said.

Cahill holds the record for most headed goals in the English Premier League (20) despite his 1.78-metre height. Cahill scored the first goal by an Australian at a World Cup and hold the national record for goals by an Australian at the World Cup.

Factfile:

Nickname: Socceroos

Founded: 1961

FIFA affiliation: 1963

Highest FIFA ranking: 14 - September 2009

Lowest FIFA Ranking: 92 - June 2000

Previous World Cup appearances: 2 (1974 and 2006)

Best World Cup performance: Round of 16 (2006)

Date qualified for finals: June 6, 2009