Jul 17th, 2019

Jul 17th, 2019

With Tim Cahill’s retirement earlier this year, the 'golden generation' of the Socceroos is officially over. But Daniel Arzani has announced his intentions to lead the way in attack to re-establish the next group of stars in the nation’s beloved football team.

"I’d like to think that I could take on that role as a key attacker in the squad," Arzani exclusively told Wide World of Sports while back home for a brief visit in Sydney last month.

"But that decision is obviously Arnie’s [Socceroos coach Graham Arnold]. For me, I’ve just got to focus now on getting my knee right, getting my body right and getting to full fitness and hopefully performing at a high enough level to be considered for that."

Australia's Tim Cahill took Daniel Arzani under his wing during the FIFA World Cup (AAP)

Arzani is on the verge of returning to the pitch after a devastating ACL injury suffered in October last year while making his debut for Scottish champions Celtic, right before the Socceroos were set to begin their Asian Cup title defence in January.

Missing out on that opportunity to win some silverware for Australia off the back of his promising World Cup debut in Russia was heartbreaking for the then-19-year-old.

"It was really tough - really tough for my family," Arzani, now 20, said.

"I think I showed I had some potential at the World Cup and I think the Asian Cup was a chance for me to set that in stone and really perform well. But it is what it is… what can you do?"

Frustratingly for fans of the young football weapon, Arzani was used sparingly at the 2018 World Cup by temporary coach Bert van Marwijk. But even in his limited game-time in every group stage match, the Iran-born, Australia-raised winger was electric with every touch.

Arzani said it was difficult to watch a majority of the action from the sidelines, and admitted he was hungry for more minutes.

"I was really happy to be getting the game-time I was getting because obviously, it’s a World Cup - it’s one of the biggest sporting tournaments in the world. But at the same time, you’re also like... you just want to play, because it is a World Cup," he said.

"You’re happy with what you’re getting, but you also want more."

How Arzani rebuilt his body after ACL injury

Arzani was not out of place in Russia. He was not handed a spot on the team to 'develop'. He was there on merit, and never looked overwhelmed by the occasion or nervous in his position despite his age. It’s a positive sign for what is still to come for Arzani in green and gold colours.

"The number one thing that stood out for me the most at the World Cup was just how normal it was. It didn’t feel like, super, super crazy," he said.

"You go in and there’s all this hype and media following, but it’s just a football tournament."

It’s that type of 'made for the big stage' mettle that has Australia so excited about the moustachioed kid from Maroubra.

A whirlwind 2018 saw Arzani go from playing in the youth league with Sydney FC and Melbourne City, to lighting up the A-League, making his Socceroos debut, being signed by Manchester City, and loaned on a two-year deal to Celtic, where even though injured he claimed a Scottish Premiership medal.

He ended the year with six caps to his name with the Socceroos. Arzani also scored a goal for his national team and won the A-League Young Footballer of the Year Award, as well as the Harry Kewell Medal, given to the best male Australian player under 23.

As a result of his sudden rise, Arzani has been touted as the best Australian prospect since Socceroos legend, Kewell.

He doesn’t want to mimic other players’ career paths though. Arzani is carving out a legacy of his own.

"I don’t really think about stuff like that," he said.

"I don’t want to be the next anyone or the next anything, I just want to do as well as I can for myself and my country, and my family.

"I just focus on myself, and I just want to be the next 'Daniel Arzani', I guess."

'FROM THE GROUND UP': HOW ARZANI REBUILT HIS BODY AFTER ACL SETBACK

Daniel Arzani, Tim Cahill, and Robbie Kruse at Socceroos training during the 2018 World Cup (AAP)

The stage is set for Arzani with the Socceroos, to go from prospect to bonafide hero. Though there is a rocky road ahead for the national team.

The ‘R’ word has been used a lot to refer to the Socceroos since the retirement of prolific forward Cahill. Rebuilding a team can be tough, but it’s even tougher when there’s been little overlapping of top-level talent to replenish the stock that has come and gone before them.

Mark Viduka, Mark Schwarzer, Mark Bresciano, Vince Grella, Lucas Neill, Brett Emerton, Kewell and Cahill – this handful of classy players all excelled to the pinnacle of their sport in Europe, but it wasn’t until 2005 that these men, and the array of elite footballers around them in that Socceroos squad, laid the foundations for Australia’s four successive World Cup appearances in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018.

After Australia's first World Cup showing back in 1974, the Socceroos' 2006 appearance in Germany ended more than 30 years of hurt missing out on the tournament finals.

Cahill, Kewell, Viduka (back right) celebrate Bresciano scoring against Uruguay in their World Cup qualifier in Sydney, 2005 (AAP)

It was a long time between drinks, so to speak, but with the Socceroos’ regular World Cup qualification in recent times, some of today’s younger football fans would be forgiven for not fully appreciating the significance of that 2006 squad’s achievements.

The last few World Cup campaigns have not been easy, and not since that 2006 breakthrough have the Socceroos made it to the Round of 16 at the tournament.

A mix of coaching merry-go-rounds, differing tactics, poor planning, FFA organisational disharmony, and just a tonne of bad luck, has seen the Socceroos - and their fans - suffer at the World Cup.

Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell at training during their 2006 World Cup campaign in Germany (AAP)

There were some bright spots with a runners-up finish at the 2011 Asian Cup and a 2015 Asian Cup triumph. But it was the qualification for the 2018 World Cup that really proved the difficultly the new generation of Socceroos are facing.

It was a grind in every sense of the word, having failed to directly qualify.

Forced to continue their qualifying campaign via the arduous CONCACAF-AFC play-off route, it wasn’t until the Socceroos defeated Honduras in their do-or-die, two-legged match-up, that they were off to Russia. The team had travelled over 250,000km and played 22 games to make it there, earning them the title of the team with the longest and most difficult road to the 2018 World Cup.

Now in 2019, with Cahill hanging up the boots, the 'golden generation' is all gone, and the Socceroos have Arnold as coach after he was appointed following van Marwijk’s brief and disappointing World Cup stint last year.

The Socceroos' 2018 World Cup campaign ended with a demoralizing defeat to Peru (AAP)

Amidst the cloudy path ahead, Arzani is the brightest young star of the Socceroos coming through the ranks.

And though he’s striving to be a standout player for the national team now and into the future, he notes some perspective is good for devout Aussie football supporters to consider.

For one, the Socceroos damn-near beat the eventual World Cup champions, France.

"110 per cent [we were unlucky]. I always tell everyone. People usually forget the earlier stages of the tournament," Arzani said.

"I’m just like, that game… we were so unlucky. They scored the jammiest goal at the end."

Arzani reflects on his Celtic experience

Arzani said while injured he still watched his teammates in the Asian Cup where they failed to win back-to-back titles after being defeated in the quarter-finals by the United Arab Emirates. He said it was a "disappointing" finish for the Socceroos, but argued that it also highlighted something that has coincided with the greater difficulty the team has had in major tournaments.

"The rest of the world is getting better at football," he said.

"The more money that is pumped into the game, there’s a lot more players playing from different countries in the best leagues in the world, and it’s just a matter of staying on top of that for Australia now.

"I think the boys played really well in this Asian Cup.

"In any kind of tournament setting there’s also a little bit of luck involved and you need that to go your way. Unfortunately it didn’t in that tournament.

"But you can see that now with what Arnie is doing with the squad he’s definitely trying to build something from the ground up, getting a lot of young players involved, a lot of different players to what they usually have, and I think it’s very exciting."

Tim Cahill retires

Arzani has finally returned to Celtic training alongside fellow Socceroo Tom Rogic and he is hopeful of completing his comeback with 'The Hoops' during their Champions League qualifier return leg against Sarajevo in Glasgow tomorrow morning (AEST).

A thigh strain ruling out Arzani's "good mate" and in-form young Scot Mikey Johnston could open the door for the Aussie to play some minutes in the qualifier at home.

Though he didn't play in the first leg in Bosnia last week, it was promising that new Celtic coach Neil Lennon named Arzani in their 24-man squad, despite him having just recently re-joined training and the tough competition at the club for a starting spot in his position.

After being out for so long, if Arzani can get back on the field soon, fans will finally get a proper look at how he's fared bouncing back from the ACL injury. But if his intensive rehab program is any indication, he appears fiercely determined to regain his top form and get even better.

He said he’s learned a lot from his injury hurdle, about himself and his football. And the agony of missing out on the Asian Cup, as well as his taste of World Cup action has made him dialled in on getting back in that Socceroos jersey to do his part for his country again, and hopefully for many years to come.

"Being a young player, it’s always about proving yourself and proving your worth every single camp and every time you get a chance to," Arzani said.

"I’m just focusing on getting into the next Aussie squad and performing well when I get there."

Videos shot and edited by: Mark Broome - Interview by: Melanie Dinjaski