Viduka eyes his next goal

Mark Viduka is starting to wonder if he will ever score another goal for the Socceroos.

It's not that he is complaining - he has hit a rich vein of good form, and his team has taken a giant stride towards the final 16 at the World Cup by beating Japan.

But he is experiencing a personal drought while leading his team into the garden of Eden.

As the Australian captain prepares for the stiffest test of all - playing Brazil in Munich on Sunday - he is growing restive at his failure to get on the score sheet.

"It looks like I am destined not to score for the national team," said Viduka, whose return of six goals from 34 matches is a poor one for a striker of his calibre.

"Everybody likes scoring, especially me, I'm a goal scorer," he said. "But I'll take a result like that (beating Japan) any day. I'm just rapt."

Viduka can't even score from the penalty spot.

He missed the target against Uruguay in Australia's final World Cup qualifier last November, and hit the crossbar in a friendly against Netherlands two weeks ago.

He last scored for Australia in the 5-0 rout of Jamaica in a friendly in London on October 9, 2005.

But he was among Australia's best players in this week's historic victory over Japan in Kaiserslautern, as he was in the two matches against Uruguay last year.

He often plays a lone hand up front, and his ability to hold the ball up under pressure while reinforcements arrive is one of his long suits.

He is also strong in the air, and showed many a time against Japan superb ball skills and body feints that left defenders a step or two in his wake.

Viduka is also a proud captain, and the role has matured him into a senior player who works solely for the good of the team.

Nevertheless, it can't be easy for an English Premier League star to lead his nation to its first win ever at the World Cup and then find himself singing the praises of a teammate with one hour's international experience under his belt.

That's exactly what happened when journalists asked him about the performance of substitute Josh Kennedy.

"Josh was something we needed (against) Japan - his height and ability in the air," Viduka said.

"The Japanese defenders found him very difficult to deal with. That was part of our plan."

Viduka found himself in the unusual situation of having not one but two more strikers alongside him as the Australians desperately sought a late equaliser against Japan, little knowing they would score three times in the final eight minutes.

Kennedy played the last half hour and John Aloisi the last 15 minutes, grabbing his share of glory by driving home the third goal.

"We might have put another striker on, too, but we had used up our three substitutes," Aloisi joked.

It was midfielder Tim Cahill, though, who grabbed most of the glory with two goals that changed the course of Australia's campaign.

What Viduka would have given for just one of them.

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