The absence of a genuine goalscorer is tempting Australia coach Pim Verbeek into including rookie 18-year-old left winger Tommy Oar in his World Cup 23. The cards could be falling perfectly for the diminutive Oar, who only turned 18 in December but who scooped the A-League young player-of-the-year gong last month and made his Socceroos debut on Wednesday night in his hometown. Oar's dazzling performance on the left flank caught the eye as Australia limped into the 2011 Asian Cup finals with a lifeless victory over Indonesia in Brisbane, but the usually coy Verbeek's reluctance to play down his chances of making the World Cup in June took everyone by surprise. "I wish I could keep the pressure down but I must be honest, I thought he played a fantastic game," the Dutch coach beamed after the win. "I can say a few things about areas he can improve but I think he was fantastic." Although the sight of Oar taking the fight to the Indonesians was a welcome one, it again only served to reemphasise Verbeek's most pressing problem: who will score Australia's goals in South Africa. Japan-based targetman Josh Kennedy, a 2006 World Cup squad member, has all the physical attributes but has found the target just six times in 17 appearances after another duck in Brisbane as the side's lone striker. Scott McDonald is yet to open his account in 15 Socceroos internationals and is currently out of favour with Verbeek. The former Celtic forward is no certainty to be included and needs to get among the goals with Middlesbrough to prove he's worth a chance. In the pecking order after Kennedy and McDonald is a raft of wildcards including talented Bruce Djite (no goals in eight appearances) and twice-capped Nikita Rukavytsya. The latter doesn’t even have his thumbnail picture on the official Football Australia website, but Verbeek is certain to have noticed Rukavytsya banging them in for Belgium top flight side KSV Roeselare since his January loan move. All that has left renaissance man Harry Kewell seemingly in pole position to occupy an unfamiliar lone frontman position for the Group D opener against Germany. Kewell is currently sidelined with a groin problem, but has grown in stature since leaving behind a Premier League career 18 months ago. And it is Verbeek's inclination to deploy Kewell in attack which might create a vacancy on the left for Oar. The teenager's dramatic rise to the fringes of the World Cup is very much a consequence of Verbeek's attacking conundrum rather than a clamour for the Dutchman to take a him to South Africa. Oar is already on the verge of leaving the A-League with a host of Dutch heavyweights rumoured to be circling. And he's also drawn numerous comparisons with the teenage Kewell, who received his first Socceroos cap in the 1996 friendly against Chile aged 17 years and seven months, admitting that he models his game on the Galatasaray star. But, as Verbeek also noted, shining against the 137th-ranked Indonesians on home turf is a world away from dazzling against the Germans. The Dutchman said: "Let's try to keep it normal for the boy. Please don't mention him as the next Harry Kewell. Let the boy just develop. He had a great year and it will be very difficult to stay on the same level." Oar also faces stiff competition. Holland-based David Carney looks certain to be included as an option for left-back or further forward on that flank, while Verbeek favourite Dario Vidosic can also operate there as well as anywhere across midfield and attack. Copyright © Marc Fox and Soccerphile.com Tags Soccer News football

You got the impression that the South Korean players enjoyed scoring against their goalkeeper in training a little too much. The novelty of having coach Huh Jung-moo in between the sticks outweighed the verbal volleys that came the way of the ten men on the outfield.

You have to think that Gary van Egmond had endured enough turmoil in his 32-month stint at the helm of the Newcastle Jets. To some, it was no huge surprise when Van Egmond, an affable 44-year-old and former A-League coach of the year, this week handed in his resignation to outspoken Jets owner Con Constantine. Any brownie points his side had earned from reaching the knockout phase of the AFC Champions League had evaporated in Pohang as the Steelers ran out 6-0 victors last week, eliminating them from the competition. Such a heavy defeat would often be enough to prompt many trigger-happy chairmen to act or noncommittal managers to walk away - notwithstanding Van Egmond had recently penned a contract extension tying him to the Jets until 2013.

Australia finished top of Group A in Asian World Cup qualifying after beating Japan 2-1 in front of 69,238 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Tim Cahill was the hero for the Socceroos, scoring twice in the second half after Japan defender Marcus Tulio Tanaka had given his side a half-time lead. Cahill's strained relations with the Australian media were apparent in a post-match TV interview that saw him offer a series of vague responses to questioning from host broadcaster Fox Sports. Yet the Everton man remains a hero to Australian fans for his performances on the pitch, and just as in Kaiserslautern three years ago, it was the explosive midfielder who dug the Socceroos out of a hole on a chilly night in Melbourne.

Looking more like a ward of hospital patients than a squad of professional footballers, Japan arrived in Melbourne with seemingly one goal in mind. Forget the three qualifying points on offer from their World Cup qualifier against the Socceroos, Takeshi Okada’s men appeared more determined to avoid contracting swine flu as they disembarked in the sporting capital of Australia. It was surgical masks all around at Tullamarine Airport, with the Japanese leaving nothing to chance in a city that has been beset by an outbreak of the highly contagious H1N1 virus. The disease is not Takeshi Okada’s only concern, with Japan forced to leave Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura at home due to a groin strain.

Looking more like a ward of hospital patients than a squad of professional footballers, Japan arrived in Melbourne with seemingly one goal in mind. Forget the three qualifying points on offer from their World Cup qualifier against the Socceroos, Takeshi Okada’s men appeared more determined to avoid contracting swine flu as they disembarked in the sporting capital of Australia. It was surgical masks all around at Tullamarine Airport, with the Japanese leaving nothing to chance in a city that has been beset by an outbreak of the highly contagious H1N1 virus. The disease is not Takeshi Okada’s only concern, with Japan forced to leave Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura at home due to a groin strain.

The move into the Asian confederation has created so many possibilities for the World Cup-bound Socceroos, but it has unexpectedly robbed them of something - a proper climax to qualifying. Few punters will forget that November night in 2005 when a bare-chested John Aloisi wheeled away after scoring the decisive penalty in Australia's shootout victory over Uruguay, a goal, which combined with Mark Schwarzer's heroics, confirming only the country's second appearance in a World Cup finals. But a scratchy goalless draw in Doha was never likely to provide the impetus for anything resembling the party which followed in Sydney three-and-a-half years ago.

Japan will send an understrength squad to Melbourne to face Australia on June 17, with Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura not making the trip as he nurses a groin injury. Nakamura is joined on the sidelines by influential Gamba Osaka playmaker Yasuhito Endo, while VfL Wolfsburg representatives Makoto Hasebe and Yoshito Okubo have also pulled out, as has in-form VVV Venlo midfielder Keisuke Honda. Despite the long absentee list, Japan coach Takeshi Okada remains confident that his side can inflict Australia's first defeat of the campaign in front of an anticipated crowd of more than 80,000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Japan warmed up for their World Cup qualifier against Uzbekistan in Tashkent on June 6 with two crushing Kirin Cup victories to win the three-team tournament in front of their home fans. Japan thrashed Chile 4-0 on May 27 in front of 43,531 fans at a sold-out Nagai Stadium in Osaka, with Shimizu S-Pulse front man Shinji Okazaki helping himself to a brace. Takeshi Okada handed a debut off the bench to 18-year-old Urawa Reds midfielder Naoki Yamada, but it was Yamada's club-mate Yuki Abe who scored Japan's third, before Keisuke Honda added a fourth in stoppage-time to complete the rout for the Blue Samurai.

Twelve games played. Seven defeats. Four draws. One win. That's the record A-League clubs currently hold against their Japanese counterparts in the Asian Champions League, with Australian teams struggling to hold their own against the might of the Japanese game. The trend continued this week when Central Coast Mariners lost for the second straight time to Kawasaki Frontale, while Newcastle Jets missed a penalty in succumbing to Nagoya Grampus at home. There were grave doubts about the quality of the A-League when Kawasaki Frontale dished out a humiliating 5-0 thrashing of Central Coast Mariners in Gosford a fortnight ago.