Australia manager Guus Hiddink insisted that he is happy with the progress of Australian football regardless of how successful their World Cup campaign is. "Of course, we want to go further on and qualify for the next round but the big win for Australia is that in a few months the sport has gone from number four to number one," Hiddink told a news conference on Wednesday. The Socceroos need to win their final Group F game against Croatia to ensure qualification to the second round of the tournament, but Hiddink seems to focus more on the Australian football's gain as a whole. "I don't want to talk about failure because even in the bad-case scenario (losing) it's not a failure of Australian football because of what we have achieved already," Hiddink said when asked about his anticipations for the Thursday match. "I think Australia have impressed the world already. We have gone beyond that point (of failing)," he added. Australia kicked-off their World Cup campaign in style by beating Japan 3-1 before falling 2-0 to the Brazilians. On the other hand, Croatia coach Zlatko Kranjcar announced on national television that striker Ivica Olic will start in their match against the Aussies. “With regard to Olic, he is now 100 per cent fit.. He is better suited to how we will play against the Australians than Klasnic," the 49-year-old coach said. The 26-year-old CSKA Moscow striker, who was not fully fit for the first two matches after a series of knee injuries and a recent calf injury, will replace Ivan Klasnic.
