Australian Squad Finalised

After much nail biting from those on the fringe of the team the final 23-man team squad that will represent Australia at the 2010 World Cup was announced overnight. 3 Goalkeepers, 7 Defenders, 10 Midfielders and 3 strikers will represent the Socceroos in South Africa:

Goalkeepers: Adam Federici, Brad Jones, Mark Schwarzer
Defenders: Michael Beauchamp, David Carney, Scott Chipperfield, Mark Milligan, Craig Moore, Lucas Neill, Luke Wilkshire
Midfielders: Mark Bresciano, Tim Cahill, Jason Culina, Brett Emerton, Richard Garcia, Vincenzo Grella, Brett Holman, Mile Jedinak, Carl Valeri, Dario Vidosic
Forwards: Joshua Kennedy, Harry Kewell, Nikita Rukavytsya

For those new to the game I have broken down my analysis of the squad as follows:

• Underlined = star


• No format = reasonable


• Italics = hack

As you can see, the teams strength is the midfield, where stars such as Cahill, Bresicano and Emerton will provide the creativity for lone striker Harry Kewell. The reserve midfielders are mostly defensive choppers so if one our creative mids goes down we are in some trouble. Kennedy can provide serviceable support up front but if we are relying on Rukavytsya to score our goals we truly have entered the realm of fantasy. The defence is serviceable outside captain Lucas Neil with most of the reserves able to fill in somewhere in the back four. In goal, if Schwarzer goes down injured we may as well pack up and go home as I can see Federici and Jones leaking goals like a sieve at international level.

The Falcon's preferred team (pictured) has Grella and Culina protecting a centre paring of Moore and Neil, with Chipperfield and Wilkshire free to bomb down the flanks. Bresciano and Emerton will also look to get into wide positions to provide crosses for Kewell and Cahill who will have to provide most of the goals if Australia are to advance. Schwarzer will be the usual rock in goal.

It is a starting XI very similar to that we saw in Germany - will it be enough to get Australia out of the group stage this time? We will have to wait and see.