FFA heirachy must decide whether to stick with overseas talent or go local when appointing new Socceroos coach Michael Thwaite says Socceroos coach Holger Osieck has pushed his A-League players to the limit. Socceroos coach Holger Osieck is close to fulfilling the only criterion by which he believes his tenure will be judged. SO it comes down to this. Three years of Holger Osieck's leadership is distilled into 90 minutes tomorrow night, with the World Cup in sight. As a keen student of history, Osieck knows only too well how its path is determined at key junctures. Win tomorrow night, and his CV will be burnished with the glowing entry of a coach who navigated the path to a World Cup. For so well-connected a figure in the corridors of international football, the kudos that comes with that really matters. He is that close to fulfilling the only criterion by which he believes his tenure will ultimately be judged. Remember that when the hunt to find a successor to Pim Verbeek unfolded, there were a variety of other qualities sought - a disciplinarian for one, with experience of Asia, a proponent of positive football and with experience of moulding and guiding a new generation. As Frank Lowy led a delegation of Football Federation suits at the last World Cup in South Africa seeking a new coach, and Cameroon's disastrous display cruelled the leading candidacy of Paul Le Guen, Osieck's name came to the fore. Osieck had two things going for him - Lowy is close to Franz Beckenbauer, to whom Osieck was assistant when Germany won the World Cup in 1990, and Osieck's work at FIFA also led him into regular contact with Han Berger, FFA's technical director, whose influence across the Australian football landscape is palpable. No doubt Osieck made all the right noises at interview, but beyond qualification - assuming that is secured tomorrow - it's questionable the extent to which any of those other criteria have been observed to any great degree. Tactically, Osieck's biggest strength is said to be his dissection of the opposition, and the way he breaks down their strengths and weaknesses. In terms of his own side, though, the tactics have hardly been groundbreaking - slight variations on the traditional 4-4-2 model struggling at times against the pace and mobility of many Asian nations. Last week's highly unfortunate foray by Osieck into gender relations also sat uncomfortably with FFA's positioning of itself as the multi-cultural, enlightened sport for the 21st century. It was also not a huge surprise to some staff there who have felt the sharper edge of Osieck's tongue. Certainly the 2-2 draw with Oman in April sufficiently alarmed the FFA hierarchy for discreet feelers to be sent out exploring the market for potential replacements. Really there was little surprise, for at most it is a year until a new coach will be needed and building relationships with potential candidates takes time. There's also the salient fact that should Australia qualify, any thought of changing coach would be nigh-on impossible because of the cost of breaking what is described as a watertight contract. Nonetheless, had Australia been steamrolled by Japan then replacing the coach was an option, and the very fact that such discussions are being had at the highest level underlines what a fascinating debate is under way about the evolution of the Socceroos coaching position. For just as Osieck himself is on the brink of making his mark on history, so you could argue that Australian football is itself on the verge of some seminal decisions about the game's future. For eight years now, the FFA has imported football intelligence across the board. But the new coach, assuming he takes over after next year's World Cup, has just a few months and minimal fixtures to mould a side for an Asian Cup on home soil in January 2015. He will also have to be comfortable in a progressive environment where Australian women are assuming roles of influence in Asian and world football, and where the sport is a bridgehead for engagement with Asia across its many cultures. If all that points to a homegrown coach, has Lowy reached a point where he will be happy to end the foreign fixation and go local? Lowy himself must retire within 18 months, by which point the change of leadership will be complete across the board, from coach to CEO to chairman. If all goes anywhere near according to plan, by tomorrow night Osieck will have fulfilled his aim, and Australia will be at their third World Cup. The celebrations would be immense, but nothing like as seismic as the questions of generational change that lie ahead.