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Asian Cup Australia
Berger not relishing Indian opener at Asian Cup 2011
Marc Fox
The draw for the group stage of Qatar 2011 had barely concluded before Australia's technical director Han Berger started the risky strategy of downplaying the Socceroos' chances in next year's Asian Cup finals.
After watching Australia drawn with South Korea, Bahrain and India in last Friday's unveiling in Doha, Berger predictably called Group C an interesting mix with no easy games even though the Socceroos and South Korea were clearly the two national sides all the others were desperate to avoid.
However, Group C is arguably more 'interesting' by virtue of the way the opening group matches have fallen, a factor that was perhaps foremost in the Dutchman's initial responses.
Berger wasn't part of the Australia set-up when Oman almost made mincemeat of the Socceroos in the opening match of the 2007 tournament, relying on an injury time leveller from sub Tim Cahill to save the nation's blushes against the Middle Eastern minnows.
But the failed Asian Cup campaign of three summers ago remains fresh in the memory of all connected with Australian football and, following an indifferent qualifying campaign for 2011, Berger knows as well as anyone how much the Socceroos must prove next January.
Against that backdrop of expectation, not only would Australia have rather not been paired with South Korea, but a competition opener against minnows India could have also been best avoided after the Oman embarrassment.
That intriguing January 10 clash will be India's first Asian Cup finals outing for 27 years and their first opportunity to attempt to score a finals goal since 1964. Oh, and they'll be coached by an Englishman Bob Houghton in the midst of an Ashes summer to boot.
Despite the precedent of some of the Europe's most powerful clubs releasing their Africa stars for the biannual Cup of Nations, Berger quickly proclaimed that he doubted whether players such as Cahill and Harry Kewell would be allowed to participate in the tournament.
Those fears were just as quickly hosed down by AFC vice-president and Asian Cup organising committee chairman Zhang Jilong, who clarified that FIFA regulations state players have to be released by their clubs to play in the competition.
''We don't foresee any problems,'' Jilong said.
Berger's biggest headache is not the players that might or might not be released but the paucity of comparable talent coming through the ranks.
In a recent interview with ESPN, he made it clear that the country's best young players were being held back in the domestic league and elsewhere.
"I have a worry as the next generation [of players] is not developing quickly enough because they are not getting enough playing time in the A-League," said Berger.
"I see too many players coming in from overseas that really do not add anything to the quality and the level of the A-League. I would simply prefer much more younger players being given the opportunity."
Asked whether, in his first year or so in the role, he had noticed a positive shift in the way Australia's younger players were being developed, Berger responded, "Slowly".
The concern over the pace of Australia's youth development is matched by the ongoing worry over the international futures of half of Pim Verbeek's first choice side.
Over the weekend, former Socceroos captain Craig Moore confirmed his final international retirement and suggested that there would be five or six others quitting the national team set-up after the World Cup with him .
Left-sided defender Scott Chipperfield will almost certainly hang up his international boots then, while the superb form of 37-year-old goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer for Fulham might still not be sufficient to delay his Socceroos swansong.
Kewell, however, has said he hasn't ruled out playing in Brazil 2014 let alone Qatar 2011, a welcome boost for the yet undecided successor to Verbeek.
Like Moore, Kewell is still unsure where he'll be playing next season (he has yet to be offered an extension with Gala after spending four months sidelined following groin surgery) but remains confident about his match fitness for South Africa come June.
Copyright © Marc Fox and Soccerphile.com
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