The Weetbix take? Guus Hiddink picked an uncontroversial team for the World Cup - the only two surprises were Mark Milligan and Josh Kennedy, and many good judges considered Ljubo Milicevic unlucky to miss out.
Milligan has clearly been picked with an eye for the future, but anyone who has seen his assured displays for Sydney FC last season are not surprised. Josh Kennedy is an intriguing selection, because of his height (he's 194cm tall or about 6'5" in imperial) and that fact that he been playing and succeeding in a very good league in Bundesliga 2 in Germany for several years, and has signed a contract to play in the German first division next year obviously got him the nod. German football has been described as mix of the English and European styles, in that it is very direct and hard, but also very skillful. It would not surprise to see Josh injected off the bench as an impact player at stages during the world cup.
Much has been made of the fact that two players from the A League have been included (and to be honest three if you count Archie Thompson, who was only at Eindhoven briefly and is coming back to Melbourne Victory this season). Michael Beauchamp (who is clearly not emotional about his French heritage in that he pronounces his surname 'beachem') is a future star for Australia, and impressed all judges who saw him play in the A League Finals series for the Central Coast with his time on the ball and speed to the tackle. And Mark Milligan as a player of the future is a good selection, and great news for football in Australia.
Biggest questions?
The mainstays of the qualifying campaign are all there - the biggest intrigue is over the continuing battle between the two keepers - Schwarzer and Kalac - will 'Spider' finally get a chance to be no. 1? Will Tim and Harry will recover in time to have an impact on the World Cup?
Australia
Ranking: 42 (up 2 places)
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