That certainly wasn't the case when Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou got the devastating news early last year that Robbie Kruse, one of the key attacking threats in what was then looking to be a rather threadbare Australian armoury, needed a knee reconstruction and would miss the World Cup.

Kruse was always going to be one of the first names pencilled into Postecoglou's team sheet in Brazil, and his absence was keenly felt as the Socceroos were more reliant on Tim Cahill's goals than ever. Australia managed to score three in three games in that World Cup, two of them from Cahill, the other from the penalty spot by Mile Jedinak. Aside from Cahill no outfield player managed to score from open play.

Even though he came back to Australia lacking in match sharpness for this Asian Cup, having only played a handful of matches for his club side, Bayer Leverkusen, Kruse has shown what sort of impact he could have made in Brazil had he been fit.

A clever, skilful player, Kruse is quick and has another gear that many players lack. He is also able to run at defenders and change direction with the ball at his feet and at pace, something that makes him difficult to counter when he is in form.

He eased his way into this tournament in the 4-1 win over Kuwait, and scored one of Australia's four when he was named man of the match in Sydney in the win over Oman.

Rested for the final pool game against South Korea – he came off the bench and made space well for himself only to miss an excellent chance to grab a late equaliser – he was relatively quiet against China in the quarter final, but put in a very impressive shift, particularly in the first half against the UAE in the 2-0 semi final win last Tuesday night in Newcastle.

In that game he ran at defenders, created space and was threatening in the forward half every time he got the ball as Australia imposed itself on the game from the first minute, wrapping it up with two goals inside 15 minutes.

Kruse is regaining his fitness and will be in a much stronger position to mount a challenge for a regular starting spot at Leverkusen when he returns. Ironically, one of the men keeping him out of the Bundesliga side's starting eleven is South Korean star Son Heung-min, who will be lining up against him in Saturday's final.

Postecoglou is certainly pleased to have Kruse, who came off the bench in the 2011 Asian Cup final which Australia lost in extra time to Japan, at his disposal.

"The national team has provided him with that sort of outlet where he has played five games of really good football and he's looking like his old self," Postecoglou said after the win over the UAE.

"Him and Lecks (fellow frontman Mathew Leckie), they may not get all the headlines all the time, but the amount of work they do on and off the ball, it helps us tremendously as a team, they start with the defensive pressure. And it's great for Robbie, he has got a spring back in his step.

"Hopefully that means that when he goes back to Germany he takes that confidence into it. It's really pleasing that we have got a really important player back in our national set-up."