Vidmar sweats on Olyroos

Australia was drawn against Yemen in a home-and-away knockout tie in June and Vidmar expressed concern at the timing of the clash against a team he knows very little about.

The Olyroos are at home in the first leg on June 19, most probably in Gosford, with the return on June 24 (AEST).

"The Olyroos squad has several members who play their football abroad but because the tie won’t fall on a FIFA date, I doubt very much if the foreign-based players will be available," Vidmar told The World Game.

"Even if it’s the European off-season the clubs have every right not to release their players on the grounds that they need a rest, so we are banking on not having them.

"In fact I expect 95 per cent of the squad for the Yemen matches to come from the A-League."

Which brings Vidmar face to face with another major problem as he embarks on his first major assignment as national under-23s coach.

The A-League will be in full recess when the Yemen tie comes around, with most of the domestic players not having played a competitive match for almost three months.

"It’s not ideal ... but that’s what we have," Vidmar said.

"We’ve lined up a few trials against the Young Socceroos and pencilled in a match against Melbourne Victory towards the end of April, so it is hoped the players will be match-fit for the tie.

"That should give us enough game practice and match conditioning, so we should be ok."

Australia does not have an easy path to London 2012.

Should the Olyroos overcome Yemen they will be cast in a four-team, round-robin home-and-away group with the winner qualifying automatically for the Games and the runner-up having another chance via a play-off with the two other group runners-up and a final decider against an African opponent.

Vidmar, who doubles up as Australia assistant coach, is relishing life away from club football.

The man who took Adelaide United to the AFC Champions League final in 2008 has been a member of the national set-up since German coach Holger Osieck took charge of the Socceroos soon after the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

"I’m really enjoying my new role, it’s fantastic," he said. "However, I must say I do miss the day-to-day grind of a club environment.

"It took me a few months to adjust to not doing the daily things you have to do at the club such as talking to players and your chief executive and meeting media and corporate commitments.

"When you go away with the national team it’s very busy at the time you are together but when the game is over the players go one direction and the coaches another.

"Then you have a bit of a down time. That’s international football for you."

Vidmar, who played 44 times for Australia from 1991 to 2001, said he was privileged to work closely with Osieck, who was assistant to head coach Franz Beckenbauer when Germany won the 1990 World Cup in Italy.

The 44-year-old is confident that the experience of working with such an affable and highly-respected man would serve him well in the coaching career that lies ahead of him.

"Holger is very good with the people he works with. He also is very open about the way he wants to play his football," he said.

"All the players and staff know they can throw in their two cents’ worth or go up to him anytime and talk to him about anything because he is very easy to approach.

"This is the side I like most about him ... the way he deals with the players.

"Sometimes in club football you are too busy to be able to sit back and look at how some people are operating.

"Take Australia's (2-1) victory over Germany last week, for example.

"It was not working out for us in the first half but he was very calm at halftime and he got his message across very clearly, firmly and precisely.

"He was not aggro or abusive but he made a few points like we needed to be more positive and aggressive like were were at the Asian Cup.

"We turned it around and in the end we got the result.

"So in this short time I’ve been working with Holger I’ve been able to reflect and pick up a lot of his ways and I will certainly tweak a few things when I’m away on my own with the Olyroos."