To see Socceroos return to training...

A month ago most Australian football fans were questioning just why coach Pim Verbeek continued to stick with Holman, a player whose commitment could never be doubted but whose finishing for an attacking midfielder certainly could.

At that stage the 26-year-old, who has been based in the Netherlands for the past eight years, had scored just one goal for Australia from nearly 30 appearances and many felt he was only getting a game because of the Socceroo obsession with anything Dutch when it comes to football.

But Holman just continues to prove the doubters wrong.

He scored the winning goal in Australia's final warm-up friendly before the 2010 World Cup on home soil against New Zealand on May 24 and now he has scored the Socceroos' first goal in the tournament itself with his 11th minute strike against Ghana.

Unfortunately what should have been the sweetest moment of Holman's career was lost in Kewell's subsequent dismisaal and the resultant penalty which allowed Ghana to equalise and meant Australia only left Rustenburg with one point instead of the three they so desperately needed.

But for Holman his goal, which came after he was the first to react to a Mark Bresciano free-kick that Ghana keeper Richard Kingson failed to hold, will remain a treasured memory.

"It's a great dream just to be here and then to actually score is something I will never forget," Holman said as the Socceroos returned to their Johannesburg base on Sunday.

Holman said he had never let the criticism of his previous performances get to him as he always maintained his belief he could play a role for his country.

"You try and do your best and give everything, like every other Australian has been brought up to do, and that is what I do and I go in with the same confidence and belief that I can do a job." he said.

"I try to play with a lot of energy and make a lot of runs and just doing a lot of dirty work as well for the other players and supporting the strikers."

And with several key members of the Australian side expected to retire from international football after this World Cup, Holman could find himself an increasingly important member of the team in the build-up to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil - not that he has given that much thought yet.

He addedL "I am just happy to be here for now.

"This is my first World Cup and after this settles down and we see what happens with players - as in who will stick around who won't - then we will just go from there."

To see Socceroos return to training...