Former Socceroo John Aloisi tips huge Aussie upset over Germany

* John Aloisi
* From: News Limited newspapers
* June 12, 2010

PLAYING World Cup football for your country is massive, simply the biggest thing ever.

You can't get any bigger, not only for a footballer - on the sporting scale it's the biggest event in the world.

This is where you make your name.

This stage is where Pele and Diego Maradona were classed as the best in the world because of what they had achieved.

As a player, you know if you do well at a World Cup, you'll be remembered forever.

What got me hooked to this game was watching my first World Cup from my parents' lounge room in Adelaide in the wee hours in 1982 when it was played in Spain.

It's funny how I can remember what happened.

It was the first World Cup which I really appreciated and it got me right into the game.

That tournament is what made my mind up to become a striker.

I remember Italy's Paolo Rossi scoring all those goals to help the Azzurri win the World Cup.

The Aussies weren't there and my dream after watching Rossi was to play in a World Cup for the Socceoros and score.

I was lucky 24 years later when I scored a World Cup goal against Japan in a 3-1 win in Germany to help Australia claim their first match on the biggest stage in sport.

It was a dream come true and was a highlight of my career, along with my qualifying 2005 penalty for Australia against Uruguay.

I can imagine what's going through the boys' heads right now in South Africa just hours away from kick-off against Germany.

The 2006 Socceroos went through it. The build-up is something really special.

We had been together for three weeks being flogged on the track before we played Japan in 2006.

Just before the first game it was a major relief that finally the day had come and we could make our debut at the World Cup.

The players in South Africa will be feeling excited, yet relaxed.

We've got some good level heads in the Socceroos and I don't think they'll be feeling nervous at all.

A few of the boys will be playing cards, some will be watching their favourite DVDs and others will be following the World Cup itself and all the other games being played.

They'll all be on the same page, all hoping that a small footballing nation like Australia will beat a giant like Germany.

I think we can take confidence into this match.

It might have been five years ago in the Confederations Cup but we did score three goals in a 3-4 loss to the Germans.

I don't think the Germans are as strong defensively this time around.

We can nick a goal or two but we have to be tight, compact and we cannot allow the Germans room - especially when they're going forward.

Their strong point is attack.

We need Mark Schwarzer to be at the top if his game and the midfield to be close and compact.

Tim Cahill and Mark Bresciano can crack Germany open with goals.

And I think we'll start with Josh Kennedy.

I don't think Pim Verbeek will risk Harry Kewell just yet.

Harry will be an impact player for this game, maybe coming on for the last 20 minutes.

Harry as an impact player can cause a lot of problems and maybe he can find the back of the net himself.

I'm very confident we can get a result.

I know the boys haven't been brilliant leading up to the World Cup but I also know the players will step up to the big stage.

They love playing under pressure.

Everyone thinks they're not going to do well and they have already written off by some critics.

But I think we can get a win against the Germans which will set us up for the remainder of the tournament.

It's not going to be easy but I've got a feeling we're going to cause the first upset of the 2010 World Cup.

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