That strip lasted little more than a year before Australia introduced the iconic green and gold of today, but the original kit could be used again on the world stage, as an away jersey. The design process will begin soon, as planning for jerseys generally begins 18 to 24 months before they are released. FFA and Nike have been coy about the topic when approached by The Hairdryer, but federation sources suggest there is already a push internally to use history as the inspiration for the 2022 away kit. Rene willing and able Still on the Socceroos, and Graham Arnold's men will find out next week who they play at next year's Copa America when the draw is conducted on Wednesday at 11.30am (AEDT) in Cartagena, Colombia.

With David Gallop's last day as FFA chief executive on Friday and no decision yet on who will replace him, there aren't many senior figures in Australian football who were available to represent the Socceroos at the draw. Step forward assistant coach Rene Meulensteen, who was due to be in the US next week and will make a slight detour south to attend the event on behalf of FFA. Australia will be drawn in a group with either Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, or Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Chile and Paraguay. Piece of cake, both of them. As for the next CEO, the respective allies of Brendan Schwab and James Johnson continue to push their cases behind the scenes. Whoever comes out on top won't be in a position to start the job until January, which means FFA will have no front-office leader for the next few weeks. Biggest blue of all

Iraqi international Ali Abbas recently revealed the true extent of his infamous change-room bust-up with former teammate Alessandro Del Piero, telling Fox Sports' podcast how close the pair came to exchanging blows at half-time of their 2-1 win over Melbourne Heart in 2013. Loading However, what Abbas didn't know was just how confident the Italian great was in thumping him. According to Sydney FC sources, Del Piero said in Italian "call an ambulance" to coaches on the bench as he stormed down the tunnel ready to hit Abbas. What Del Piero didn't know was that Abbas was well versed in kickboxing and held a black belt in jiujitsu. Realising the potentially grim fate that awaited Del Piero, Sydney FC's goalkeeping coach Zeljko Kalac intervened and prevented the club's star recruit from being sidelined by one of their own. United once more