Most Socceroo fans are already well familiar with Andre Kruger. Kruger aka “that crazy German bloke who loves Australia” has followed the Socceroos’ every step since 1973 when he was a 13-year-old school boy in Hanover.

True to form, Kruger’s affection for the team is as strong as ever. With minimal TV coverage in Germany, he’s been relying au.fourfourtwo.com to keep tabs on the team and to follow the matches through our minute-by-minute commentary.

“It was my only chance because at that time [of the matches] I had to work, so FourFourTwo brought the game inside of my office,” he said.

Kruger has managed to dig enough to find some Asian Cup footage though and has managed to find some highlights – and lowlights – of the Group A matches so far.

“When I go home in the afternoon, I had the chance to see some action on an online channel from Asia and later on YouTube. And, what can I say? I was shocked to see how easy we got the goals against us.”

“The World Cup was perfect for the Socceroos, and at the end they went home unlucky. But they played as a team with spirit, and the fans went crazy. But football goes sometimes different ways…

“The defence [against Oman and Iraq] was shocking. A midfield? I thought the played without a midfield. So overall, it was the whole team. It was like at the Confederations Cup in 2005. Only Mark Schwarzer was in very good form,” he said.

Kruger has his thoughts on team selection too. And Graham Arnold seems to have already heeded some of those thoughts judging by the team that he sent out against Thailand.

“We have some good players on the bench, but maybe too many forwards.
But I’d like to see Tim Cahill from the beginning… and John Aloisi too. In defence, I’d like Michael Beauchamp and Michael Thwaite as starters.”

Arnold has been in the firing line in the past week, and will almost certainly be replaced post-tournament. But Kruger thinks comparing Arnold to Guus Hiddink is unrealistic and suggests the team underestimated the difficulty of Asia following the Socceroos’ opening performances in the tournament.

“You can’t compare Arnold or anyone else with Guus. Since the
World Cup Australia has millions of football fans, that means also millions of coaches and experts.

“There’s no more chance to do everything perfectly. Just one mistake and they will hunt you. Asia, for most Australians… they thought it meant the easy way. I always said [we need to] be careful, and now we are seeing the result. There are no Olympic Games for the Matildas, no U20 World Cup and maybe no more Confederations Cup.

“Asia will be difficult and if something goes wrong, of course you blame the coach. If we fail, Arnie will go. But to be fair, FFA asked Mr Arnold to do the job. There was no other person to do it and they always said, they’ll sign a five star coach next time.”

Who should the FFA recruit to replace Arnold?

“Ah mate, that’s difficult too. Dick Advocaat is a great coach and for me someone who will give 100 percent. A personal favourite for me is Bruno Metsu, but I am not sure if they (FFA) ever asked him. It's also a question of money.”

With a number of Australians now playing in Germany, Kruger has begun to follow the fortunes of the growing Australian contingent at Nurnberg.

“Beauchamp had a good season, but he lost some of his form at the
end,” he says. “We’re all waiting for Josh Kennedy to come back. He lost one year, and that's very hard. And the big hope is Matt Spiranovic. I think he is a jewel.”