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The Socceroos chances against Chile in their World Cup opener might come down to two things: the rickety right knee of Arturo Erasmo Vidal Pardo and our new-look defence.
Vidal is La Roja’s key man, their world-class weapon, their go-to-guy. Scorer, creator, ball-winner and match-winner, the 27-year old from Santiago is a magnificent midfield general.
But Vidal is not fully fit and huge doubts remain about whether he will play against Australia in two days time.
Chile is far from a one-man team – hello Alexis Sanchez – but if he doesn’t take the field it is a serious blow to the South American nation.
One of the other questions surrounding this game is our makeshift defence. With no Rhys Williams or Curtis Good, it looks like Alex Wilkinson will partner Matt Spiranovic in the centre, with Jason Davidson and Ivan Franjic on the flanks.
It is a back four with close to 30 international caps between them, which is not a lot. Close to two thirds of those are Spiranovic’s.
The Socceroo defence was shaky against Ecuador and South Africa but improved against Croatia. It is going to be really tested at this World Cup.
One man who knows about both defences and World Cups is Craig Moore. The Socceroo legend, one of our greatest ever centre backs, played in two World Cups and more than 50 times for Australia.
In his storied career he starred in the English Premier League, the Scottish Premier League and the German Bundesliga among others.
I sat down with Moore, who is in Brazil with the Socceroos staff, to talk about our defence and the team’s preparations ahead of the Chile game.
Follow John Davidson on Twitter @johnnyddavidson
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