BPL Citizen Journalist SIMON DANG writes why the Socceroos face a bigger hurdle to climb than in Germany four years ago.

1. Hiddink & Verbeek

Pim Verbeek was hired for his expertise in the Asian region and it paid off with our qualification but does he have what it takes for the big stage? His South Korean team but didn't exactly set the world stage alight when they played at the 2006 tournament while we had Guus Hiddink who was and still is one of the best managers in world football.

2. Club Level Troubles

In 2006, the majority of our players were playing regular club football at the highest levels in Europe. This time around many of our boys have had interrupted seasons sitting on the pine for one reason or another or, in the case of Craig Moore, don't even play for a club. Harry Kewell’s injury should be the least of our worries -- he has been plagued with injuries his whole career but finds a way to perform when it counts -- with the likes of Moore, Lucas Neill, Brett Emerton and Vince Grella now seemingly a shadow of their former selves at club level.

3. Lack Of Squad Development

Despite a burgeoning national league back home, there seems to no one that has stepped up to the next level in the last four years. The platform is there for the likes of Dario Vidosic, Nikita Rukavytsya, David Carney and Brett Holman who need to take this opportunity by the collar. For now but, it looks like 2010 might have come too early for us to show how far we’ve come with the A-League.

4. Mark Viduka

Who do we have to replace one of the greatest marksmen to ever don the Socceroos guernsey? Josh Kennedy’s performances against oppositions in Asia have been somewhat impressive but those defenders don’t exactly compare to that of Serbia’s giant-killing Nemanja Vidic.

5. Tougher Group

Our group this year is much tougher: Ghana is a strong, attacking unit, Serbia have one of the best defenses in the Europe and Germany are an out and out powerhouse. Thankfully, the best two opposition midfielders (Germany's Michael Ballack and Ghana's Michael Essien) are out injured but that won’t make the task any easier.

6. Luck

Our progression through to the round of 16 last time can be attributed to one result: the nil-all draw between Croatia and Japan. The Croatians’ failure to put away the Japanese cost them dearly and we (or rather Kewell with that 79th minute goal) pounced. We’ll need Lady Luck to shine on us again.

7. Known Quantity

Our players will now run around with targets on their backs instead of being unknown quantities as our ventures in the Asian region have also provided opposition teams hours and hours of footage to study and peruse through. Playing more games has also moved our world rankings from 39th in 2006 to a peaked of 14 last year – we’re simply no longer the underdogs.

Simon Dang is a Melbourne-based media student.