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Loan, groan ... Aussies desperate for games ahead of South Africa

Marc Fox

With just a week of the January transfer window remaining, a crazy situation is developing whereby one-third of Australia coach Pim Verbeek's possible World Cup squad has been forced to seek a loan deal to find regular game time in the lead-up to the showcase event in South Africa.

No fewer than seven Socceroos directly involved or on the fringes of Verbeek's national team plans have sought a temporary transfer away from their parent clubs since the start of the season with another handful (including national team captain Lucas Neill) making permanent moves in the past few weeks - and all simply to further their respective World Cup causes.

The Socceroos qualified for South Africa 2010 at a canter, and were one of the first nations to book their berth way back in June last year.

But behind their dominant AFC qualifying form lingers a pressing concern for Verbeek and anyone currently involved in the senior international set-up.

This year's tournament will be a watershed moment for many of the Dutchman's aging squad, with a raft of post-South Africa retirements from the likes of Mark Schwarzer, Craig Moore, Scott Chipperfield and possibly even Harry Kewell widely predicted.

However, if Australia's Asian Cup 2011 qualifying displays are any judge, the team have struggled when younger players or those playing in the A-League have been called on to fill the void of the left-at-home bigger names.

Having reached the knockout phase against all the odds in Germany four years ago, it all means that South Africa could provide the last realistic chance for the current generation to create history - and as many of the country's second tier players want to be involved as possible.

Even though Verbeek has admitted he would rather his players simply be training with a European club than playing regularly in the less advanced local league, those players not yet guaranteed a place on the plane to Johannesburg aren’t about to take any chances.

Their desire to catch Verbeek's eye over the next four months has led to some desperate measures - even for players that had been staking a decent claim at their actual employers.

Take Dario Vidosic, for instance.

The panicky Croatian-born striker has become a staple fixture in Australia's recent national team gatherings after forcing his way into the first team reckoning at Bundesliga side Nuremberg this season.

But his lack of minutes under new coach Dieter Hecking since Christmas has prompted him to jump at the chance of joining second tier MSV Duisburg until the end of the domestic season.

The 2nd Bundesliga is a division he knows well after getting promoted back into the top flight with Nuremberg last year and he hopes Verbeek will share his enthusiasm.

"I don't think Pim Verbeek will have too many problems with it," Vidosic told one Australian newspaper. "He'll be happy that I've gone there to play games and that it's a very good club who are doing very well in the second division.

"The German second division is a very big league with a lot of good teams."

In Turkey, striker Bruce Djite and holding midfielder Mile Jedinak - both likely to make Verbeek's 23-man cut - have still opted to switch clubs. Djite has moved to fellow Turkish Super League outfit, albeit relegation candidates, Diyarbakirspor, whereas Jedinak already spent the first-half of the season loaned to Antalyaspor from Genclebirligi.

Earlier this month, Nikita Rukavytsya left Dutch table toppers FC Twente for Belgium strugglers KSV Roeselare after just five appearances in 2009, and Nathan Burns made a similar move at the start of the season, joining Greek second division side Kerkyra from AEK Athens, where he's been a huge hit.

Meanwhile, central defender Matthew Spiranovic has joined J-League giants Urawa Red Diamonds on a 12-month loan deal, and benched Crystal Palace playmaker Nick Carle is mulling over a similar switch to ambitious Chinese Super League side Shaanxi Chanba.

"He is in China having a look at the club to see if he wants to go there," Palace manager Neil Warnock said.

"He wants to play first team football with the World Cup coming up and we cannot offer him that right now."

Marc Fox

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