A lot has been made of Australia's ageing defence. Craig Moore and Scott Chipperfield have already retired from the Socceroos, while skipper Lucas Neill is well into veteran status. Even newcomer Sasa Ognenovski is in his thirties.

It's a concern for Socceroos fans with a view to Brazil 2014, but the one player supporters are turning their attention to is 22 year-old central defender Matthew Spiranovic. In fact, the Geelong-born VIS and AIS product been dubbed the next big thing in defence for Australia.

The only hitch is 'Spira' has been burdened with that tag for quite a while now - when will he step up and finally fulfil his potential?

When FourFourTwo caught up with Spiranovic in Japan, where he plays with J.League giants Urawa Red Diamonds, the young defender admits now is the time to establish himself as a regular Socceroo.

"Everyone wants to play," says Spiranovic. "You wouldn't be where you are if you didn't have that hunger and that ambition to play. With some of the older boys finishing up, it's the chance for the younger boys to put our hands up and show the coach and everyone in Australia that we're ready.

"I've been in a lot of camps now and taken a lot of advice from Lucas (Neill) and Craig Moore. Those guys have helped us younger boys slowly step up and now it's time."

Speaking with Spiranovic, it's obvious this is a young guy full of ambition and he says his time in Germany - where he spent five years with FC Nurnberg before moving to Japan to January 2010 - has helped him believe he belongs at the top level.

"It's been a gradual process," he says. "Step-by-step, by playing in the Bundesliga you gain that belief that you belong playing at this level. When you come up against top-class opponents week-in, week-out that definitely helps."

Spiranovic points to Bayern Munich's French winger Franck Ribery as one of the toughest opponents he faced in Germany. "Each player is different but Ribery was one of the standouts for me. I remember playing right-back against him and it was a tough day," he recalls vividly.

And while Spiranovic's Bundesliga experience afforded him the opportunity to regularly face top-class opponents, his battle against a certain diminutive Argentinian in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games still stands out.

"I remember playing (Lionel) Messi, we worked hard as a team to get numbers around him because one-on-one it was almost impossible to stop him," he says. "They ended up beating Brazil 3-0 in the final, so they were a fantastic team."

Unfortunately the youngster's progress during his fledgling career has been curtailed by a spate of injuries.

Despite his potential, Spiranovic managed just 24 appearances for Nurnberg in his five years there, and after only 13 starts for Urawa in 2010, his run in the side was cut short after sustaining a hamstring injury which ruled him out for the final two months of the J.League season.

Furthermore, back in November 2008 after a decent run of form and games for Nurnberg, Spiranovic ruptured an ankle ligament at training just days before Australia's World Cup qualifier in Bahrain. The injury ruled him out of not only that game, but for the rest of the 2008/2009 season. But Spiranovic says he's been unlucky and doesn't take kindly to labels that he's injury-prone.

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