FOOTBALLERS are not known for their sentimentality, especially when they are competing for places in a squad for the biggest competition of all - the World Cup.

But there was not a single one of Rhys Williams's Socceroos teammates who did not feel his turmoil when the tall utility was, on this very day last year, cut from Pim Verbeek's 23-man roster for the World Cup in South Africa.

They knew how hard he had worked and how much he wanted to play. After all, they had done and felt the same.

The image of the Middlesbrough player sitting disconsolately on an icebox at the St Stithians College oval in Johannesburg on the morning of June 2 last year while his teammates ran laps was one of the more poignant of the Australians' tournament: it was at that moment he knew Verbeek would have to leave him out as his groin injury meant he was physically incapable of doing himself justice.

But most professional footballers are known for their resilience and self-belief, so it was not surprising to see the 22-year-old stride into the lobby of an Adelaide hotel yesterday looking fit and sharp as he seeks to force his way back into international reckoning under the Socceroos' new coach, Holger Osieck.

Williams, who has been recalled for the double-header against New Zealand in Adelaide and Serbia in Melbourne next week, knows it won't be easy to squeeze into a team that has recently reached the Asian Cup final and defeated Germany on their own turf. And the memory of missing that World Cup still burns, as it always will.

Williams was out of action until the end of Boro's Championship campaign but was involved in the last dozen games - enough to convince Osieck to check out a talent that his predecessor Verbeek had rated highly.

''I am still not over it [the World Cup absence],'' Williams said yesterday. ''To miss such a big competition when I felt like I could have been included is really hard to take, and it's going to be a while before I get over it.

''Maybe if I am good enough and playing well enough to get selected for the next one, maybe that will erase the memories. I have always got the thought in the back of my head that the injury will come back and it's something I have to work on. [But] I have come back now and feel ready mentally and physically.''