It would be ludicrous, or even preposterous, to suggest that Australia has become an effective exponent of a style of football made famous by the Dutch 40 years ago.
It takes a special breed of player, after all, to be able to re-produce the total football that Johan Cruyff and his merry men turned into an art form.
The Socceroos have qualified for their second straight AFC Asian Cup final by beating United Arab Emirates 2-0 in Newcastle.
Early goals from Trent Sainsbury and Jason Davidson gave the Socceroos a comfortable victory despite UAE's gallant attempts to get back into the game.
Korea Republic awaits the Socceroos at Stadium Australia on Saturday.
The Socceroos are getting better and more confident with each game and their multi-purpose pattern based on mastery of the ball and passing it at speed at best reminds you of the Dutch way.
This may be because the current Socceroos like to play the game in the front third of the field.
Or because the three strikers constantly change positions and nobody in the team really has a fixed or rigid role.
Or perhaps they hound any opponent who has the ball, often forcing him into error.
Or because most players can defend in unison and attack in a similar vein.
These were the traits that made the Oranje so awesome so many years ago.
The most tangible proof that this new Australian way of playing the game is paying dividends lies in pure statistics.
The Socceroos have scored 12 goals in the competition so far and coach Ange Postecoglou would be glad to note that this impressive tally from five matches came from 10 players.
Which goes to show that in the general scheme of things it does not have to be Tim Cahill to provide the Socceroos with the match-winning goals.
"Tim Cahill has been fantastic for us but this tournament has proved that we can score goals from other areas," Postecoglou said.
"I'm not sure how many scorers we've had but it must be a fair few which is a positive sign.
"When we play our style of football we get players into positions where they can score, including set pieces."
Postecoglou should be commended for selecting players with the ability to play his preferred high-tempo game and the coach himself now knows that goals can come from anywhere or anyone on the pitch.
Not many national coaches have this luxury.
The Aussie scorers in this tournament are Cahill (3), Massimo Luongo, Mile Jedinak, James Troisi, Tomi Juric, Robbie Kruse, Matt McKay, Mark Milligan, Sainsbury and Davidson.
Four players – Jedinak, Milligan, Sainsbury and Davidson – are defenders or defensive midfielders.
