Proud Socceroos certain of bright future

* Ray Gatt
* From: The Australian
* June 26, 2010

A NEW generation of young stars will come through to continue the quest for glory.

SOCCEROOS stars Tim Cahill and Jason Culina have admitted player retirements are likely to hurt the national team but remain upbeat that the new generation will carry on the good work of the past five years.

Cahill, Culina, Josh Kennedy and David Carney almost slipped into Sydney yesterday unnoticed after returning from South Africa following their heart-breaking early exit from the World Cup.

Greeted by more media than fans, Cahill, flanked by his sons Kyah and Shea, said Australian soccer fans should not view the fact the Socceroos did not qualify for the second round as a failure.

"It was a great result," Cahill said. "People see it as a failure, but we achieved something.

"We had a bad start (to the tournament) but we picked it up really well and we went out with our pride intact.

"I feel really proud. The (Socceroos) fans were amazing. To see what they brought to the table and what we did on the pitch, it was a massive success for the whole country."

Cahill said the World Cup experience was one of the weirdest he had ever experienced as a footballer.

"It was a weird start (losing 4-0 to Germany) and having our World Cup almost over (there and then)," he said. "But we finished on a high and there are so many positives to come out of all of this.

"We have young kids coming through and yes we might have a few older players retiring, but I'm positive for Australian football.

"It definitely won't be easy (qualifying for the next World Cup in Brazil in 2014), but the thing is we have got potential.

"The main thing is so long as all of us keep working and playing hard I think we can achieve something. The World Cup was exciting and I enjoyed it and I know the younger guys enjoyed it.

"It's disappointing we were knocked out but we learned a lot."

Culina echoed Cahill's thoughts. "I think things look great at the moment," Culina said. "There is a good mix of experience and young players coming through.

"Yeah, maybe we have three or four players who are going to retire but the young boys are coming through and now they have got the chance to show what they can do."

Meanwhile, Kennedy stopped short of criticising coach Pim Verbeek, but was surprised and disappointed by his omission from the starting line-up for the first two games against Germany and Ghana.

"Yeah, definitely, I expected to play but it didn't turn out that way," Kennedy said.

Asked if Verbeek came up with a mistaken game plan against Germany, Kennedy said: "We lost 4-0, so obviously those tactics for that game plan didn't work."

Kennedy came off the bench for the final quarter in the 1-1 draw with Ghana and started in the 2-1 win over Serbia, where Verbeek finally started Cahill and Kennedy together.

"Me up front with Timmy behind, it's always worked," Kennedy said.

Additional reporting: AAP
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/world-cup-2010/proud-socceroos-certain-of-bright-future/story-fn4l4sfy-1225884488352