“I've been trying to convince him over the last few weeks to play on," Aloisi said today.

In an interview with the next issue of FourFourTwo magazine, Moore strongly hints that he is thinking of quitting the green and gold. Aloisi hopes not.

"Someone like Craig with experience is great to have," theMariners striker said today.

"If it's a younger boy playing alongside him, he'll learn a lot and Craig can take players through the game.

“I'm not 100% if he will continue, but it will be nice to see him. He's had a great career and probably one of the best defenders we've ever had for Australia.”

The Socceroos opponents for the third round of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup were revealed overnight at the draw of the preliminary qualifying stage in South Africa.

China, Iraq and Qatar will be Australia's opponents in the third round of AFC qualifying after the Socceroos were seeded directly into this stage of the qualifying process. Also seeded alongside Australia were South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

This phase of qualifying will see the Socceroos play their opponents home and away with the top-two placed teams progressing to the fourth and final round, where four teams will gain direct entry to the 2010 FIFA World Cup while a fifth team will play off against the top Oceania team for the final place in South Africa.

Iraq will provide much interest, particularly after beating the Socceroos in the Asian Cup last July. Aloisi hopes he and his teammates can take revenge on the Asian Cup champions.

“I told the Olyroos they can take revenge on Iraq for what happened in the Asian Cup and they did," he said.

"This will be another chance to beat them again. So I'm looking forward to it."

He added: “No team is a pushover. Technically most are good, so we know what to expect this time.

“We'll know what to expect from them – and of course we'll play them in Australia for one game. We'll be more prepared and know what to expect and this time around, we'll be capable of beating them.”

However, with the vast majority of the squad next February slated to be A-League stars, Aloisi feels the locals can step up.

“There are quite a few good players here,” said Aloisi. “The Olyroos also showed with their Olympics qualification, quite a few have played in the A-League.

"These first few games will have to be A-League games – everyone will be match fit and up for it.

"Even an A-League based squad can do the job against any of these sides if we are at our best.

“That's the beauty of Asia. You're playing tough sides and it's a tough qualifying route but if we do qualify, we'll be better prepared for the World Cup.”