Aloisi hopes 'Roos can avoid tough World Cup group

Former Australia international John Aloisi hopes the Socceroos avoid a nightmare group when the World Cup draw takes place on Saturday morning (3am AEDT).

Former Australia international John Aloisi hopes the Socceroos avoid a nightmare group when the World Cup draw takes place on Saturday morning (3am AEDT).

Aloisi famously scored the decisive shootout penalty which sent Australia to the 2006 FIFA World Cup at the expense of Uruguay, before appearing off the bench in all four of his team's matches at the tournament in Germany.

Now coaching A-League outfit Melbourne Heart, the 37-year-old wants the outcome of this weekend's eagerly anticipated event in Bahia to be kind to Ange Postecoglou and his players.

"Everyone's hoping that we get a good draw," he said.

"Australia know that they're going to get a couple of tough teams. We just hope that it's not a group of death that we've got no chance of getting through.

"Fingers crossed that I wake up in the morning and I see that we're grouped with someone we think we can beat."

When asked if he would be happy to see Australia drawn against their old foe Uruguay, Aloisi said: "Yeah, that would always be good. At least we know what Uruguay are like as a country and as a footballing nation.

"I think in these situations you want to get teams that you sort of know and (have) played against and you won't be surprised by or teams that haven't really done well in a World Cup before. It'll be interesting to see who they get."

Aloisi backed Postecoglou, until recently his direct rival at Melbourne Victory, to be thorough in his preparations for the World Cup, and claimed the players are likely to be more eager than their coach to know who they will be facing next year.

"I'm sure that Ange, whoever they come up against, is going to do his research and is going to know them," he said.

"It's more for the players that are (going to be) out there. If the older, experienced players have played against a team, like Uruguay, they'll know what they're up against. Whereas some other players might not."

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