NEXT year, the Socceroos start their campaign to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. After consecutive World Cup finals appearances, including reaching the second round in 2006, expectations will increase. The A-League will be nearly a decade old by then and the effects of imported coaching know-how and player development should be apparent. But what will the Socceroos' line-up look like in four years?

Former Socceroo, championship-winning A-League coach and now Australian Institute of Sport senior coach Gary van Egmond was asked to look into his crystal ball and identify the players who could be Socceroos and household names by 2014.

Brett Holman [14] celebrates with teammates Nikita Rukavytsa, Jason Culina and Tommy Oar after scoring against New Zealand in May. Credit:Vince Caligiuri

''I've got Ben Kantarovski of Newcastle right up there,'' van Egmond said. ''[And] there's a boy here at the AIS from Sydney called Terry Antonis, who won't be here for much longer. He's a bit out of the box because his technique is so good, he's both sided and can play as a 10, an 8 or even a 6. He's a very complete player, who could work a bit harder on his defensive duties. But with the ball he's a very clever player who scores goals from midfield, like Cahill and Holman. Antonis will develop over the next four years and I suspect he'll have a rapid rise.''

But the man who is in charge of bringing through the next generation believes Antonis is far from the only player yet to make his mark and who we should be keeping our eyes out for. ''The other one is Eli Babalj, a Serbian-descent boy, who's just been signed by Melbourne Heart,'' van Egmond says. ''He's very tall, very strong, has beautiful feet for a big fellow, has enough pace and is a real goalscorer. He's the perfect No. 9, probably with better feet than [Josh] Kennedy. Under the coaching staff at the Heart he'll really develop. He's in a good space. Another in the running is Marco Jesic, who is a tremendous talent. It will be great to see these young players grow and see what roles they play over the next four years.''