Australia's mission impossible?

Ahead of their flight out to Brazil, there could be no doubting the nervous uncertainty surrounding the Australian team camp. At the final press conference before departing, veteran Mark Bresciano sounded almost timid as he was asked to predict the team's chances in Brazil.

"We know that when we go to Brazil we are in a very tough group, with very tough competition," the 34 year old midfielder said. "We are going to try to do our country proud and ourselves proud."

Then, almost as an afterthought, Bresciano added: "And we are going to see if we can shock the world."

As the lowest-ranking team in the tournament and with bookmakers now offering in excess of 750-1 for the Socceroos to win, it seems that Australian football is having a bit of a reality check.

Group of death

The Socceroos have been placed in Group B together with the 2010 World Cup winners Spain, runners-up the Netherlands, and highly-touted Chile. It's rightly been called the "group of death."

According to ex-Socceroo captain Paul Wade, Australia can't expect too much this time round.

"If we spring a surprise, the whole world will know about it," he told DW. "But on paper, when you look at it, we may not even score."

"We're an inexperienced team up against some of the biggest nations in world football. It'll be a really big ask."

The team's inexperience is a result of years of sticking with an aging, core group of players for too long, say the critics. Australia's "golden era" included players like Harry Kewell, Scott Chipperfield, Lucas Neill and Mark Schwarzer. None of them are on the plane to Brazil.

"The FFA (Football Federation Australia) didn't focus enough on the next generation of players, especially under [former coach] Holger Osieck," said Ahmed Yussuf, a writer with the Australian website Football Central.

"We had the same old names playing all the time. I think we lost a generation of Socceroos at that stage."

New coach, new players

But with the sacking of Osieck and the promotion of Melbourne-raised Ange Postecoglou to the national team coaching role last October, youth players are finally being pushed into the set up.

Postecoglou, who spent years playing for Australian club side South Melbourne, is one of his country's most successful club coaches.

"Even though I don't think he has the Midas touch, he's slowly fulfilling his promise about rejuvenating the side," Yussuf told DW.

The question is, whether it's all happening a bit too late, ahead of the herculean task in Brazil. Questions surround Australia's defensive players, who will be tasked with marking some of the best attackers in the world. A lot is being expected of the new captain, defensive midfielder Mile Jedinak.

"There are a whole bunch of players in the Australian side that should have more games under their belt than what they currently have," Yussuf admits.

Former national team midfielder Wade is pleased that new players are finally getting a chance. He's also a fan of how Postecoglou instructs his teams to play their football.

"With Ange, we have a positive style of football," Wade explains. "He always likes the ball to be moving forward. That gives the fans hope that something is always going to happen."

All eyes on Cahill

But still, concerns remain about Australia's ability to score enough goals to compete on the world's biggest stage. In Australia's last friendly before departing for Brazil, the team drew 1-1 against South Africa.

Australia's lone scorer was Tim Cahill, the country's all-time leading goal scorer. Cahill made a name for himself in the English Premier League with Everton, and now plays for American MLS side New York Red Bulls.

Despite standing at just 178 centimeters (five feet 10 inches) tall, he is known for an explosive jump and an uncanny ability to score goals with his head.

Australia will be hoping he can continue his goal-scoring ways, when their campaign gets underway against Chile on June 13. Cahill aside, Australia's strikers lack significant international top-level experience.

But, even if things don't look too rosy at the moment, veteran midfielder Mark Bresciano isn't writing the team off just yet.

When asked at the press conference what he thought of the team's supposed 750-1 odds to win the tournament, Bresciano smiled and said, "Put a dollar on it."