Australian captain Lucas Neill is targeting a good defensive effort and believes it is the key to his side doing well in South Africa.

The Galatasaray defender prides himself on how the Socceroos defend and knows that if the back four of Scott Chipperfield, Craig Moore, Luke Wilkshire and himself can stick together and back life easier for goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, then results can be positive.

''The defensive organisation is something we're going to pride ourselves on. Overall in the 90 minutes [against Denmark] the line was really good, really high, and offensive, if you can say that," he said. "It was probably the most offsides we've ever caught a team out in one game. Hopefully the opportunities for the guys who are paid the big money to score goals will be few and far between."

Neill also said the defensive unit was becoming more accustomed to the flight of the 'Jabulani' World Cup ball which is attracting criticism from all over.

''We're definitely getting more used to it,'' he said. ''The key is to try and get [Mark] Schwarzer playing a high line on the edge of his box, sweeping, because of the unpredictability of the ball. More often than not the fact the ball is going all the way through might actually take away part of the aerial threat. For us, timing headers is never going to be perfect, but as long as we get the organisation right, we should be able to cover any situation.''