The performance of Sydney FC defender Mark Milligan, and to a lesser extent team-mate David Carney in Australia's 4-0 win over Thailand at the Asian Cup, has presented Australia coach Graham Arnold with somewhat of a quandry ahead of Australia's Asian Cup quarter-final clash with Japan.

West Ham defender Lucas Neill - who has endured a miserable tournament so far, returns from suspension, posing the question of who will partner Neill in defence - Milligan, or 1.FC Nürnberg stopper Michael Beauchamp.

Beauchamp has usurped Leicester City man Patrick Kisnorbo in the central defensive pecking order for Australia, although Beauchamp has at times looked shaky in an Australia jersey. He memorably came off the bench in the last minute of a friendly against Paraguay in Brisbane, and then promptly scored an equalising own goal, to send the crowd of 50,000 home in dismay.

Nevertheless Beauchamp turned in a solid performance against Thailand, even opening the scoring with his first ever goal for the national team - at the right end of the pitch, at any rate. Yet it was the performance of the small and agile Milligan that dominated the headlines.

Sydney FC coach Branko Culina has urged Milligan and Carney to consider their options in Australia, before rashly signing for one of Europe's lesser lights. Who could blame him? Culina obviously wants to keep his star players at the club, but in highlighting the fact that Milligan and Carney are both good enough to play for the national team, he has a valid argument.

Michael Beauchamp is a case in point. At Central Coast Mariners he was regarded as a defender with undoubted potential, but it took a move to the German Bundesliga for him to receive a serious look-in with the national team.

That no longer needs to be the case. Milligan and Carney's performance proves that if you are good enough, you should be in the team, regardless of where you play your club football. 

Of course one match is unlikely to be the basis of a monumental shift in attitude, but it has certainly given Australia coach Graham Arnold food for thought.

I, for one, was glad to see that Urawa's coach Holger Osieck was "unhappy" with the result from Sunday's 1-1 home draw with Yokohama F. Marinos - played in front of 51,829 fans at Saitama Stadium. He was certainly happy with the midweek 0-0 home draw with Sydney FC, which saw his side become the second Japanese team after Kawasaki Frontale to progress to the Champions League quarter-finals. That's probably because his team executed its game-plan almost to perfection; foul, defend, counter-attack, defend, foul, defend, counter-attack, defend. You get the idea.

For all the build up to the Urawa - Sydney FC clash, the match was a monumental anti-climax, as games that attract so much hype can often be. Sydney FC would have won but for some glaring misses in front of goal - David Zdrilic's failure to open the scoring with a free header midway through the second half may spell the end of his unhappy career with the club. Mark Milligan and David Carney also came desperately close for Sydney - although Urawa's Brazilian striker Washington could have undeservedly won the match for Urawa when he shot wide from sixteen yards in the last minute of the game.

There have been enough column inches written about the game itself without me having to rehash them, but as the Australian media is want to do, I couldn't help but chuckle at some of the deliberate misconceptions bandied about in the aftermath of this clash. Perhaps my favourite has been the Sydney Morning Herald's (surprise, surprise...one of Sydney FC's official sponsors!) consistent claim that the match was played in front of over 50,000 fans. Now I might have only scored 22% on my Higher School Certificate maths exam (hey, if I want to know how to do my tax...I'll call an accountant) but the last time I checked, a crowd of 44,793 was at least 5,207 fans short of the half-century mark. Why let facts stand in the way of an embellished story though, hey fellas?

It was also claimed in the Aussie media that the Urawa fans reserved a "special" atmosphere for Sydney FC. It sure was special - partly because it was Urawa's second-lowest attendance of the season, and partly because the atmosphere was about half that generated at a J-League game. In defence of the many Urawa fans who simply didn't turn up, I was personally surprised by just how far out of town Saitama Stadium actually is. With the Japanese tending to work late, it was no wonder that by the time the 7.30pm kick-off rolled around, thousands of fans were still streaming through the turnstiles and looking to take their seats. The horrendous traffic outside the ground didn't help, but of course with the match beamed live on TV throughout Asia, there was never a suggestion of delaying the kick-off to allow those fans to catch the entire ninety minutes of action.

It might be time for me to put my hand up and admit that I am bitter about the result from Wednesday night. Not just because I'm a Sydney FC fan - albeit a begrudging one, and not just because I dislike Urawa more than any other Japanese team. It's just that after thirty years of mistreatment by FIFA, shambolic administration and heart-breaking bad luck, it looked like Australian football had finally turned the corner and was starting to get what it deserved. I think if Sydney FC had qualified for the knock-out stages it would only have served to paper over the cracks at the club - but I certainly don't think that Urawa were the better team in the group. Sydney lead 2-0 after twenty minutes against Urawa in Sydney - before drawing 2-2, they lead 1-0 over Persik Kediri before losing 2-1 on a water-logged pitch in Solo City, and they drew 0-0 with Shanghai Shenhua in Sydney...with midfielder Ufuk Talay hitting the crossbar from a penalty - his first ever penalty miss for the club. Take maximum points from any of those fixtures and Sydney FC would have progressed.

As it is, it is the so-called "giants" of Asian football...with an imposing one J-League title to their name, who progress to the quarter-finals. According to Saburo Kawabuchi - head of the Japan Football Association, the AFC Champions League "should be more like the UEFA Champions League." I guess that's what we saw on Wednesday night. With a team that possesses an array of attacking talent such as Takahito Soma, Shinji Ono, Robson Ponte and the sulking hulking Washington, it's no wonder Urawa chose to sit back and defend for the entire ninety minutes. They were just trying to be more European...

So it's come down to this. Given the turmoil at Sydney FC prior to the start of their Asian Champions League campaign - with coach Terry Butcher given the sack and Branko Culina brought in as interim manager, it was difficult to envisage the Harbour City club unduly troubling the likes of Urawa Reds and Shanghai Shenhua United in their ACL group, right? Wrong.

Going into the final group game at Saitama Stadium on May 23, the 2005 A-League champions Sydney FC are still in with a chance of qualifying for the knock-out stages of the competition at their first attempt. They'd have been in prime position, had midfielder Ufuk Talay not crashed a penalty into the crossbar in Sydney's most recent 0-0 draw at home to Shanghai Shenhua.

That draw, coupled with Urawa's 3-3 draw with Persik Kediri in Indonesia means that the Japanese giants have nine points going into the final match, with Sydney FC just behind them on eight. Urawa can afford to draw in front of what should be a vociferous home crowd at Saitama Stadium, but Sydney FC will come at them with all guns blazing.

Urawa were stunned when these two clubs met at Aussie Stadium back in March, having seemingly underestimated the 2005 Australian champions, as they fell two goals behind after just twenty minutes. The J-League champions showed their mettle, however, more than matching Sydney for the rest of the game and roaring back thanks to strikes from Robson Ponte and Yuichiro Nagai. The latter arguably scored the easiest goal of his career in Sydney, and Clint Bolton's uncharacteristic handling error - he spilled a cross at the feet of Nagai, could come back to haunt the A-League giants.

Urawa, however, are under the pump in Japan. Rumours that several squad members don't see eye to eye with new coach Holger Osieck just won't go away. Despite the over-abundance of talent at his disposal, Osieck rarely makes changes to a team that has already made gruelling trips to Sydney, Shanghai and Solo City this season. As a result, Urawa have rarely looked their best in 2007.

Thus a fascinating battle should ensure between a club written off before this competition kicked off, against the over-hyped J-League champions. Before this competition commenced, Urawa loudly proclaimed their desire to become the first Japanese team to reach the quarter-finals of the Asian Champions League since the competition was revamped in 2003. They have already been beaten to that punch by Kawasaki Frontale, and with Sydney FC looking to do business in Saitama, there might just be another nasty surprise in store for the 2006 J-League champions Urawa.

So the League Cup kicks off here in Japan this week, and woe any coach who doesn't take this competition seriously!

With talent spread so evenly in the J-League, plenty of clubs realise that the League Cup represents an excellent chance to pick up a piece of silverware.

Conversely, a poor run in the Cup can spell doom and gloom if you're a highly paid foreign coach brought in to win trophies. Just ask Paulo Autori!

The League Cup in Japan features only J1 clubs, and kicks off with a four-team Group stage. There a couple of interesting looking groups this year, but none of that is important...because my home-town team Shimizu S-Pulse have been drawn in the same group as Kashiwa Reysol.

Now I'm a mild-mannered man and I try to be fair and objective. But last weekend in the J-League, Shimizu were robbed thanks to what can only be described as THE WORST DECISION IN THE HISTORY OF FOOTBALL.

Okay, it wasn't really that bad. But I reckon Shimizu will be out for revenge, since it was Kashiwa Reysol to whom they lost at Nihondaira Stadium for the first time in ages, and since they kick-off their League Cup campaign, predictably, against Kashiwa Reysol.

As for the decision in question - let's just say it was another classic piece of J-League refereeing, which saw Shimizu striker Cho Jae Jin pulled down in the box, Shimizu midfielder Fernandinho slot the ball into the net, and J-League referee Tsutomu Anazawa blow for a foul - after the ball had hit the back of the net - against Shimizu.

Anyway, I would say that JEF United are the team to beat in the League Cup, since they've won the last two editions, but I reckon a team of blind monkies could probably beat United at just about anything right now. Kashima Antlers obviously couldn't, but that's another story.

On a final note, Kawasaki Frontale and Urawa Reds are absent from the group stage of the League Cup, as they are competing in the "prestigious" (according to the AFC) Asian Champions League. Kawasaki take on Bangkok University tomorrow, but I must confess a personal interest in the Sydney FC - Urawa game.

I was a Sydney FC season-ticket holder during their inaugural A-League season, and since I possess a healthy disdain for all things related to Urawa, I'll be cheering louder than usual for their opponents in this one.