SOCCEROOS veteran Stan Lazaridis has implored Australian officials to snap up his young Birmingham City teammate Neil Kilkenny and make him a standard-bearer of the post-World Cup generation.
As Lazaridis, 33, approaches the end of a long international career - hopefully capped off by inclusion in the World Cup squad - he believes Kilkenny could have an equally exciting Socceroos future ahead of him.
The 20-year-old Blues midfielder was born in London but grew up in Brisbane, and while he is eligible for both England and Ireland, he recently told Socceroos assistant coach Graham Arnold he wanted to pledge his allegiance to Australia.
Football Federation Australia officials are working through the documentation process, and while Kilkenny's declaration of intent has probably come too late for the World Cup, Lazaridis believes his clubmate could feature for both the Olympic [under-23] team and the national team in the future.
It was Lazaridis who alerted the FFA to Kilkenny's eligibility, and the veteran of four World Cup qualification bids is convinced he has the goods to succeed.
"It was a chance conversation, really, because I never really knew his background until a couple of months ago," Lazaridis said. "But when I met his parents they told me how Neil had been brought up in Brisbane, they told me he had an Aussie passport, so I made a couple of calls back home to let people know.
"It's a bit of good news, really. He's not the biggest player, but he's a real footballer. He likes to attack, he's got a good strike on him. He's a lot like Bresh [Marco Bresciano], although he's still got a way to go. He can be a big part of the next generation, definitely. I mean, he wants to play for Australia, so what have we got to lose?
"If you're his age and you're holding your own in the premiership, then obviously you've got to have something. Technically, Neil is a very good player - he can be a big plus for us."
With the World Cup likely to signal a major changing of the guard, Kilkenny could make his Australian debut as soon as early August when the Socceroos host Kuwait in an Asian Cup qualifier in Adelaide. Kilkenny could also feature in the Olyroos squad, which is in camp in Sydney this week preparing for next week's four-team tournament in Vietnam - a competition that signals the start of the campaign to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Meanwhile, Lazaridis, capped 57 times in a career that began 13 years ago, is refusing to concede his World Cup dream despite falling out of favour since Guus Hiddink took charge
