Australia's Attacking Options Looking Much Brighte

Australia’s attacking options for the first game of the Confederations Cup against Germany are suddenly looking much, much better after key striker Mark Viduka got through his first couple of training sessions with his Socceroos teammates with no apparent problems.

Australia-s attacking options for the first game of the Confederations Cup against Germany are suddenly looking much, much better after key striker Mark Viduka (pictured right) got through his first couple of training sessions with his Socceroos teammates with no apparent problems.

Against New Zealand in last week-s friendly international in London, FC Basel midfielder Mile Sterjovski was needed to fill the void, with a host of players unavailable or injured.

The lack of a regular goal scorer was very evident in the 1-0 win over the Kiwi-s, but with John Aloisi, David Zdrilic and Jason Culina all joining the likes of Viduka and Archie Thompson in the Confederation Cup squad , the attack takes on a decidedly new feel about it.

It-s still unclear on whether Viduka will take any part in the match against Germany, with Farina to access his situation over the next few days in training. However given that he has only played a total of 10 minutes since Christmas, it-s unlikely that Viduka will start, for lack of match fitness.

Aloisi, fresh from scoring for Osasuna in their 2-1 Kings Cup loss to Real Betis on Saturday, is the likely choice to get the nod for the starting line-up. He has been understudy to Viduka and Harry Kewell for a number of years and has been in good form this year with Osasuna, scoring eight goals in the tough Spanish League.

However if it-s goal scoring form that Farina is after, he can go no further than Sydney FC-s Zdrilic. Fresh from leading his club to the OFC Club Championship, Zdrilic was in outstanding form and lead all goal scorers with nine goals. Admittedly it was against opposition that will be nothing like what he will face in Germany, but he is very confident at the moment and is also a hard worker when he doesn-t have the ball, something that Farina will see as important in these very hard games.

Zdrilic also knows Germany, is where he has spent many years of his career and he probably has a little to prove to some people in this country.

Culina is more of an attacking midfielder than a striker but his record for FC Twente in the Dutch 1st Division was first class. He and Thompson led all Australian goal scorers (16 goals) plying their trade abroad in the season just gone.

Melbourne Victory recruit Thompson was a little unlucky last week, in that he looked to be the prime candidate for the starting striker-s role until he rolled an ankle at training and was unable to train with the team at the critical times, hence he had to start on the bench. He looked sharp when he came on midway through the second half and is not without his chances of getting a run against Germany.

Given the new system that Farina has employed over the past year, the striker-s role is obviously a very crucial one and while Viduka, will always be seen as the preferred choice given his ability to hold the ball up and bring other players into the play, the gap between him and the players behind him is closing fast.

One thing for sure though, whoever gets the nod for the match against Germany, will want to perform well, for there is someone ready and eager to take their place for the next match against Argentina.