Pete Alexander fears for Australia's chances with their golden generation coming to an end.
Australia to win the World Cup? They should be so lucky!
So... g'day World Cup fans. Stone the crows, I'm excited, eh? A whole month ahead of nothing but soccer, barbies and stubbies - does life get any better than this?
Unfortunately, for us Aussies, the Socceroos aren't quite what they once were. This really is the last of the golden generation - the likes of Schwarzer, Cahill, Kewell et al can't go on forever. Still, we'll come into this with the right frame of mind, look to go out there and caused a few shocks and, most importantly, get the coals goin', throw a couple shrimp on and kick off the party!
Toughie
We've not had the best warm-up either, getting beat by the Yanks. But let's focus on the first game against the Germans. It'll be a toughie, no doubt about that, mate. They're old heads and they know what winning a World Cup is all about, so we're gonna have to defend strongly and hope that Super Timmy Cahill can pop up with bullet Lechkov-style header. Germany know all about that!
Glimmer of hope anyway - the lads'll be up for it. Mark Schwarzer is in the form of his life, we've got a decent back line, strong midfield - my only worry is up top. Since Tubby retired, we've struggled for strikers. He was one helluva player, Ol' 'dukes, so he's going to take some replacing, and Bazza Kewell ain't a natural forward. Josh Kennedy is a bit fresh so we're going to rely on the likes of Cahill, Mark Bresciano and Brett Emerton to attack the box.
At the end of the day, let's be honest - we've now got a crackin' excuse to crack open a tin or two, sit back and watch the action unfold. Win, draw or lose, ladies and gents, it's never a bad time to throw another shrimp on the baaaarbie, maaaaaaate. I can't wait.
