The Olyroos will resume their campaign to reach next years Olympic Games on Saturday night. Australia will take on DPR Korea, and then group leaders Lebanon four days later at Gosford. The Olyroos have already kicked off their campaign with a solid scoreless draw against Iraq in Doha, Qatar.

The Olyroos must capitalise on their two home games this week to have any chance of reaching the Olympics next year in, Beijing. Australia will certainly be looking to its future from this squad. Goalkeeper Danny Vukovic who plays his football in the A-League for the Central Coast Mariners is not too far away from breaking into the senior squad. As coach Graham Arnold pointed out, “if there wasn’t a clash in dates, Danny would have been in the Socceroos squad”.

Also exciting strike duo Nathan Burns and Bruce Djite are two players that will be looking to break into the Socceroos squad in the lead up to the 2010 World Cup. The pair has put in good performances throughout the qualifying campaign and now play their club football with Adelaide United. Their partnership and understanding will be pivotal to Australia’s chances of topping the group.

This current group of players contains a mix of both home grown talent plying their craft in the A-League and overseas based players. The challenge for the coaching staff will be to bring these talented players along, making sure they develop into the next generation of Australian sporting superstars. Experienced players such as Mark Milligan (Sydney FC, A-League), Mark Bridge (Newcastle Jets, A-League) and Adrian Leijer (Fulham, England) will play key roles in the quest for reaching the Olympics.

Qualifying for the Olympics and being successful in the tournament is a very difficult task to achieve, especially now that our path is through Asia. Brazil has won every major trophy in football, besides the Olympic gold medal. In Athens 2004 the tournament was brought to life by the inspirational performance of the Iraqis. They reached the semi finals, defeating Australia along the way. The nucleus of that squad recently lifted the Asian Cup, again defeating Australia in the group stage.

If Australia wants to emulate and better the performance in Germany 2006, the time will come very soon where our squads for world cup qualifiers will be filled with players from the current Olyroos squad. The Iraqi triumph should not only serve as a lesson in how to overcome adversity. But also it should highlight to the FFA management that, investing in the future and giving our Olympic players more international football is the way forward.

Australia is in transition as our aging squad head towards the twilight of their careers. The future of Australia’s football will not be at a sold out MCG playing against Argentina in an extravagant friendly. The future Socceroos will be battling DPR Korea and Lebanon on the Central Coast, in front of a few thousand fans.

Alan Mtashar is the Football Presenter on 2GLF 89.3fm