Australia keen to get Cahill back in squad

September 23, 2008

Australian manager Pim Verbeek is keen to get Tim Cahill back in the squad for the next round of World Cup qualifiers after watching the midfielder earn his side a victory 2 weeks ago and a point at the weekend as he looks to try and regain his full fitness.

As long as Cahill can stay injury free he will be selected for the next round.

“I’m very pleased with Tim,”

“He played for 80 minutes last Saturday so let’s hope that he will stay fit in the coming weeks.

“After five months not playing and scoring such an important goal we know how important he can be for us, so hopefully he will remain fit.

“And if he’s fit, for sure I will select him for the Qatar game.”

Verbeek is also hoping to recall Vince Grella after injury and there could also be a return for Harry Kewell.

“I was there a few weeks ago, spoke with him, saw him play, saw the environment that he is living in at the moment - he looks very happy,”

Things look less hopeful for Mark Viduka though as he is struggling to recover in time from injury.

“It doesn’t look good at all,” Verbeek said. “But when I spoke to him last April he was very confident of being a member of the Socceroos.

“He said his contract will finish in 2010, and there’s nothing better than finishing at a World Cup.

“I am very pleased with my strikers, but we don’t have a player with the same special qualities like Viduka.”

Former Australia captain Craig Moore has made himself available for selection again after coming out of international retirement.

“It’s great that he has found out that he is physically and mentally fit enough to join the group - now it is up to me to find out if I will select him, because I didn’t give him any guarantees,”

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