Speaking with Japanese media in Sydney, the 53-year-old Dutchman reiterated his admiration for the J-League after two stints in recent years. He was at the helm of Kyoto Purple Sanga in 2003 and five years earlier enjoyed a two-year spell at Omiya Ardija.

For journeyman Verbeek, who added that he wants to coach for another 10 years, a return to the land of the rising sun is clearly on the cards. However, he isn't exactly clear on when that will be.

"I've never made a secret that the J-League, Japanese football, is for me a very interesting league. So I don't say no," Verbeek said when quizzed about a return to Japan. "But I'm still coaching for 10 years, so I'm sure at sometime in these 10 years I'll be back in Japan."

Pressed on his future after the next World Cup, Verbeek was not letting too much slip. "I don't know. I have no idea," he said.  

However, for a coach who rarely sticks around in jobs for longer than two or three years, he sounded very much like a man on the move after June 2010.

"Sometimes coaches need a new challenge," he said. "So I will wait till the World Cup to probably find out if I want something new.

"Sometimes after two and half years maybe I think, okay, something new can be good. New players, new country, new league, I don't know.

"But still five months to go. I really enjoy my job. I have a great job for a great country. So it's not like I say I want to go I've had enough. That's definitely not true.

"If I'm going to do something different it's because sometimes you need to do something different.

"I enjoy my job in Australia. I have very good players with a very good mentality. The Football Association [FFA] is doing very well. It's a very professional organisation and I have very good staff. It cannot be better.

"It's more or less the same with South Korea in the [2007] Asian Cup in Indonesia. I was there for two and a half years and okay, I think, time for something new, a new challenge."

If Verbeek does leave Australia, it won't be because of the Aussie lifestyle. He described Sydney (where he lives in the North Shore) as "the most beautiful city I've ever seen".

He added that the media spotlight in Australia helped him enjoy what Australia has to offer. He added: "The media is very small compared with Korea, Europe and Japan, so life is very relaxed."

But right now the coach is focused on Asian Cup qualifiers in the short-term and the World Cup in five and a half months time.  

Verbeek said Australia needed five points to qualify from Group D at the World Cup. And he believed his background will be important - particularly against Germany in the first group game in Durban.

"For me as a European, German football has no secrets. You know every player; you know what they can and what they cannot do," he said. "Germany, one of the best teams in the world, that's always like that."

And after the second game against Ghana, Verbeek believed the group would be decided when the green and gold take on the dangerous Serbians in the final group clash.

"Ghana, there's a lot of pressure on their shoulders because as an African team they want to go to the next round. So it will make it more difficult for us.

"And Serbia, a lot of teams we don't know so much about and Serbia is one of those teams, but if you look at the players they have playing in the best leagues in the world and a very good qualification round.

"Of course the first game is very important. I think you need to win one and need two draws so I think you need five points.

"Okay, the last game [against Serbia] will make the decision."

Verbeek added that preparation by the Socceroos will leave no stone unturned. The Australians will be one of the first countries to arrive in South Africa to begin preparations at a luxury base already booked by the FFA.

"We have to be on our best," he added. "There are no easy games in World Cup and we have a very difficult group. But I'm very positive we can survive, but we have to work very, very hard to do that.

"First, very important it is to get to the next round. That is our only target at the moment. Get to the final 16 and then everything is possible."

As New Year's Eve approaches, the Socceroo coach was asked how he'd sum up the year.  He said the February World Cup qualifier in Yokohama against Takeshi Okada's Japan was the toughest game in what has been a stellar 12 months.

"No preparation at all against a very strong team. A difficult game but we were very pleased with the 0-0," he said of Yokohama.

"The Socceroos had a fantastic year. We had very good results. We qualified for the World Cup so that was target number one."

And South Africa offers a rare chance for the Rotterdam-born trainer to truly step out of Guus Hiddink's shadow. After often being thought of as a poor man's Hiddink, Verbeek can really make his mark as an international coach.

With Hiddink's Russia failing to qualify - somewhat surprisingly - Verbeek can now show with the Socceroos what he's learnt on the biggest stage. It could be the making of Verbeek.

After being an assistant to Hiddink at the 2002 World Cup, Verbeek said he learnt much about preparing players at international level for big tournaments such as World Cups.  

"It's difficult to explain what it is exactly," Verbeek said when asked what it was that he learned under Hiddink.

"It's not about learning about football because already I'm 25 years in football, so I think I know football. It's more, the preparation for a World Cup. They way he is handling working with players.

"It was different because it was my first time with a national team. Before that I always had club teams. So that was a very different story.

"But of course Hiddink is one of the best coaches in the world. So it was good to work with him for one and a half years."

He added: "It's the biggest sports event in the world.

"Only 32 coaches can be there so I'm proud to be there and be one of them coaches but also proud of my team and our results this year."