World Cup 2014 Preview – Australia

AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE! OI OI OI! Australia are looking for a bounce back performance in this World Cup as their appearance four years ago was quite disappointing, being eliminated in the group stage behind Germany and Ghana.

Striker/Attacking midfielder Tim Cahill is obviously the heralded leader of the Australians, although he's definitely not getting any younger. This may be Cahill's final World Cup, and he would want nothing more than to finally get past the round of 16, as the Australians did in 2006. Although a great player, Cahill will more than likely not be able to play to his full potential simply because of the difficulty of the group, which includes Chile, the Netherlands, and Spain (Spain and Netherlands being the teams that met in the 2010 World Cup final).

To help out Cahill up front, midfielder Brett Holman will need to play his best every game to give the Australians any chance at advancing. Holman scored two big goals in World Cup 2010, and is a proven skilled midfielder with speed and the ability to make quick decisions in the short passing game.

Following up on a previous comment, Australia, in reality, has no chance of advancing to the knockout stage. Spain and the Dutch are just too good top to bottom, and not to mention Chile is a sneaky good team who has the capabilities to play the spoiler of the group. My prediction: the Aussies finish 4th in this extremely difficult group.