Socceroos hoping to entice Viduka back

Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek hopes to entice striker Mark Viduka back into his squad for the crucial World Cup qualifiers in June, but has ongoing concerns about the fitness of Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill.

Verbeek and a number of his Australian-based Socceroos have returned to Sydney following their hard earned 0-0 draw with China in Kunming.

The point kept Australia at the top of their Asian qualifying group after two of the six rounds.

Dutchman Verbeek described the effort at altitude as "a great performance" given their injury-ravaged status and short preparation time.

He will head overseas to Europe on Sunday to watch first hand some of his overseas-based players and talk to others he is yet to meet such as Scott Chipperfield and Viduka.

Viduka, who plays for English Premier League club Newcastle, has remained non-committal about his Socceroos future, but Verbeek hadn't given up hope of persuading the classy striker to return to national colours for their four June qualifiers.

"I've always said that Mark Viduka is always on my list and I will meet him in England to find out his ideas about the future for the Socceroos," Verbeek said.

"So far he has never given me an idea that he's not interested anymore, so I'm looking forward to meeting him and speaking with him and find out if he wants to be part of us."

Verbeek felt injury-plagued Liverpool star Kewell did a good job with the younger players in the lead-up match last week against Singapore before yet again breaking down.

"He was very ready to do a job (against China) and then this happened, so he was of course devastated and so were we all," Verbeek said.

Injuries also deprived him of several other players including Brett Emerton, Scott McDonald, Mile Sterjovski, Josh Kennedy and Bruce Djite.

Another high-profile casualty was Cahill, with Verbeek voicing concern over the recurring injury woes of the Everton midfielder and Kewell.

He said scans would determine the extent of injuries to Djite and Archie Thompson.

The Socceroo coach was critical of some of the challenges by the Chinese and described the ferocious challenge which injured Thompson as a "crazy tackle".

He even admitted he was pleased that some of his players "took a little revenge" on the Chinese after another ugly challenge on Luke Wilkshire.

Verbeek said one of the plusses to emerge from the matches against Singapore and China were the efforts of some less established players, particularly Newcastle Jets defender Jade North.

The Socceroos next game is scheduled for May 23 in Sydney, probably against Cameroon.

Verbeek hinted he could again select a number of A-League players for that game as the Italian and German leagues only finish the previous weekend.</p>