To turn the Socceroos into World Cup contenders, we need to start with the junior game

Australia had high hopes of an historic World Cup knockout round win after progressing through the group stage. However, a painful Round of 32 exit, losing a penalty shootout to Egypt, raised familiar questions about the state of soccer in Australia. These conversations generally centre on: was the preparation leading up to the World Cup the best it could be? were the players well prepared? are our coaches good enough? is there enough elite talent coming through the system? To answer them…