The hunt for the next Australian Idol

With the products of Australia's new elite development pathway system still very much in the embryonic stage, Australian football desperately requires its latest batch of Young Socceroos to blossom during the FIFA Under-20 World Cup.

GettyImages

Kewell is one of the best to have played for Australia.

What it doesn't need is another class of 2005; that is, a collection of individuals that, four years on from exiting at the first hurdle of the competition, have clearly struggled to make any inroads into the top leagues of Europe, unlike those from previous generations of Young Socceroos squads.

While the tournament has failed to produce players like Harry Kewell en masse, for the Aussies, some of the nation's finest players in recent times have - sporadically - come to prominence, if not during the tournament, then certainly shortly after.

Having represented the Young Socceroos on home soil at the 1993 U-20 World Cup (then called the World Youth Championships), Craig Moore was snapped up by Scottish giants Rangers, where he would make 175 appearances for the club before moving on to Borussia Monchengladbach, Newcastle United, and his current employers, Brisbane Roar.

It didn't take long for Mark Viduka to venture overseas, either. After representing the green and gold at the 1995 event, Viduka began scoring goals for fun at Dinamo Zagreb before embarking on an 11-year stint in the UK with Celtic, Leeds United, Middlesbrough, and finally, Newcastle United.

Likewise, current Socceroos Mark Bresciano, Brett Emerton and Jason Culina weren't far from a move to Europe after their 1999 U-20 World Cup campaign, while striker Scott McDonald became a regular near the top of the Scottish Premier League's goalscoring charts with Motherwell shortly after appearing in the 2003 version of the competition. He's since continued the trend with Celtic.

And while the crop of 2007 failed to grace youth football's greatest stage, many from that batch have managed to pave a road that could yield positive results for the senior team in the coming years.

Nathan Burns, once touted as the heir to Kewell's throne, currently finds himself plying his trade in the Greek Second Division with Kerkyra, having been loaned out by AEK Athens. His former Adelaide team-mate, Bruce Djite, is also playing internationally with Genclerbirligi in Turkey, while Matthew Spiranovic and Dario Vidosic are both employed by German club FC Nurnberg. With the latest bunch of Australian talent set to make waves at this year's U-20 even in Egypt, the eyes of many will curiously scan the squad for 'the next big thing'. And given that coach Jan Versleijen has assembled perhaps the strongest Young Socceroos squad in recent campaigns, it's easy for Australian fans to get excited at the prospect of there being more than one eye catcher.

Unlike previous Young Socceroo teams, a number of players (James Holland (AZ Alkmaar), Ryan McGowan (Hearts), Dean Bouzanis (Liverpool), Chris Herd (Aston Villa) and Aaron Mooy (Bolton Wanderers)) boast European experience and will provide the squad with an element of stability, technique and tactical awareness.

Many of the Aussie-based players, such as A-League rising star nominee Kofi Danning, Brisbane Roar duo Luke DeVere and Mitch Nichols, and Jets young gun Sean Rooney, are also playing regularly for their respective A-League clubs - no doubt a huge advantage.

All of this should, in theory, bode well with the team and allow them to compete technically and tactically with their more fancied opponents, which include Brazil, Czech Republic and Costa Rica in Group E. A tough ask, but not impossible.

Australian players have been perennially naïve when it comes to tactics, however the presence of James Holland & co., coupled with the experienced Versleijen pulling the strings and a good dose of senior football under their belts at domestic level, could make this squad palatable to many.

While the performance of the team is important, arguably more so are the performances of those 'next generation' players - the players that will advance to the next level and become an integral part of Australia's 2014 and 2018 World Cup teams.

The tournament has never acted as a barometer for the future successes of national teams. If that were the case, Argentina - who have won the tournament a record six times - would have added a few more senior World Cups to its collection since 1986.

GettyImages

Holland: The next big thing?

Ever since a thin-looking, pint-sized Diego Maradona bamboozled the Soviets in 1979, the U-20 World Cup has become a stage for the future geniuses of the game. Club scouts, player agents and senior national team coaches are all on hand, hoping to witness the unearthing of the next football prodigy.

And since the tournament's debut in 1977, you can hardly say it has failed to produce, with the likes of Davor Suker, Thierry Henry, Ronaldinho, and of course, Lionel Messi, all graduating - and dominating - to the senior scene.

Essentially, then, the tournament provides a chance for national team coaches to identify the potential future lynchpin of their respective senior team. And in Australia's case, it's a chance to anoint the next Kewell - or at the very least, discover a crop of players that will grace the top leagues of Europe and help lead its future World Cup causes.