JASON Culina last night led the Socceroos to an emphatic 3-0 victory over Kuwait, delighting a huge Canberra crowd and cementing Australia's position as Asian Cup title favourites.

Culina blasted home a blistering goal from outside the box in the 16th minute, then set up fellow Gold Coaster Joel Porter with a clever back-heel just four minutes later.

The Kuwaitis came back stronger in the second half, going close several times as ageing Roos veteran Craig Moore succumbed to a niggling injury. But Scott Chipperfield dropped back to muster the Aussie defense, and a curling penalty from Mark Viduka sealed the result with five minutes left on the clock.

Socceroos coach Graham Arnold (*) hailed the win as a sign of the A-League's resurgence, and boldly predicted a full decade of Australian football domination in Asia...

OK, obviously I didn't get to watch the Socceroos game against Kuwait last night. But luckily I could follow all the action live online with FourFourTwo's expert commentary.

And truth be told, it's not like I missed much, is it? We've all been here before, far too many times.

So what's the way forward, you ask?

Step inside my A-League fantasy!

Imagine what our Asian Cup qualifier team will be like a year from now, with Culina, Chippers, Joel Porter and others coming back to play in Oz.

Then imagine how the mere presence of these players is going to inspire and educate younger players in the domestic competition.

I just don't understand why anyone would ever beg these guys to stay overseas. What? So we can win a few games at the next World Cup? And then what???!

The key to enduring success for Australian football is not to keep annually farming a handful of talented youngsters off to foreign leagues, but to steadily grow the numbers of such talented youngsters in our own domestic competition.

And mark my words - if we don't keep growing the A-League, we won't keep qualifying for World Cups. The talent just won't be there.

The Schwarzers and Cahills and Kewells of this world did not come from a generation who sat at home twiddling their thumbs on Playstation and Nintendo DS. They were kids who regularly ran their butts off in the hot sun and rain, getting down and dirty every day.

If we Aussies want to become an enduring football power, we need to ensure that all our kids are out there kicking balls around every day. And that's only going to happen if we can grow the A-League into the country's predominant sport.

How do you do that? First you bring home some real heroes, guys like Jason Culina who can really turn a game on its head. Then you put them on free-to-air TV, one way or another. Shove 'em in your kids' faces, day after day. Believe me, they'll love it!

Then you put some serious money into grass-roots football. As I write, my kids' local club is struggling through the usual nightmare of pre-season grading and scheduling. It's all done by volunteers, it's all haphazard, and it's only a handful of dedicated souls who keep the whole thing ticking over year after year. A lot of talented kids are just walking away, year after year.

We can do better. We will do better! Let me tell you something - Clive Palmer's idea of bringing Socceroos back home en masse is not the nightmare many people think it is. In fact, it's the key to our national team's future success.

Like it or not, a lot of our heroes from the last World Cup will be pushing the age barrier by the time the first ball is kicked in South Africa 2010. Who's going to replace them?

A 12-year-old kid can clearly see the difference between Archie Thompson and Tim Cahill. But it takes 100 Archie Thompsons to make one Timmy Cahill. So where do we find 100 Archie Thompsons? Right here in our backyard!

You wanna beat Kuwait next year? Bring home a few Socceroos, build up the local game, and invest all your hopes in your kids' dreams!

* - Well, every fantasy has a dark side, right? If you don't want to see that particular nightmare come true, please let the FFA know!