"Something went wrong with Pim Verbeek," agrees Rasic "Firstly the man should never have announced he was going to Morocco four months outside of taking Australia to the World Cup."

Rasic believes there is a need for a complete shift towards the next generation, with "the most brilliant player we've ever had" in Cahill reaching his mid-thirties by the time the next World Cup arrives.

"If I'm still playing at the highest level, then I'll be playing at Brazil 2014," says Cahill. "But there is loads of great young talent coming through like Dario Vidosic, Tommy Oar, Nikita Rukavytsya, James Holland and even Terry Antonis, players that aren't even in the squad yet that I think are going to be outstanding. We're lucky with the players coming through."

Rasic dampened the enthusiasm around the next generation by claiming Australia is lacking a future playmaker,
a player in the Nicky Carle mould who proves more popular with the national coach.

However, there is a general consensus that blooding youngsters is now a bigger priory than results in the coming months, even if that means sacrificing a podium place at Asian Cup.

"The majority of the current players will not play at 2014 and should not even be considered in the lead-up matches," says Murray. "Even in the Asian Cup we should be blooding the players for Brazil 2014. It is a four year cycle and it takes four years to prepare the players for a World Cup.

"We need to try out the younger tier who were in the squad for South Africa, or on the fringe of the squad. We need
a new goalkeeper, so Federici need to be considered now. Other youngsters like Spiranovic, Carney, Rukavytsya, and even young Tommy Oar, need to play straight away," adds Murray.

"The next step for Australia is to blood a few players at the Asian Cup," echoes Aloisi. "Those players who are not going to be around in fours years' time should not go to the Asian Cup. We have got four years to build a side that can compete at the next World Cup. We need to blood players at the Asian Cup rather than just try and win it."

Looking more long-term, Olsen says: "We still need to work towards improving the technical standard of Australian players."

The ride the 'Golden Generation' enjoyed is coming to an end. But with a new set of players and a fresh approach from a new coach, get ready to join the ups and downs the rollercoaster ride of a new era for the green and gold will provide. 

This article appeared in the August issue of FourFourTwo magazine. To buy back copies of this issue call 03-8317-8121 with a credit card to hand.