The ‘Socceroos’ will be hoping to light up the World Cup stage in South Africa. All throughout their history, they played their football in the Oceania Qualifying Zone. In 2005, this all changed when they were accepted by the Asian Football Confederation and they marked their first qualifying campaign in style making it through with plenty to spare.
This is the third appearance at the World Cup, the previous occasions were in 1974 and 2006. Their 1974 competition ended in the first round after defeats to East and West Germany and a draw with Chile. Australia were known as the nearly men of international football due to the number of occasions that they fell at the final qualifying hurdle. Altogether, they have lost six playoffs since 1966, including a 1986 defeat to Scotland. They finally overcame their playoff hoodoo in 2005 when they beat Uruguay 4-2 on penalties to reach the 2006 World Cup. They acquitted themselves well in Germany, beating Japan 3-1, losing 2-0 in a competitive game against Brazil and holding fancied Croatia to a 2-2 draw. Four points were enough for them to advance to the last 16 where the were knocked out by eventual winners Italy. They were neck and neck with ten man Italy who had Marco Materazzi sent off, until Fabio Grosso won a dubious penalty which was converted by Francesco Totti in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
They decided to enter the Asian Qualifying Zone due to the fact that they felt Oceania didn’t afford them enough matches or competition. This proved to be a shrewd move. After receiving a bye to the third group stage, they finished top of their group on goal difference ahead of Qatar. If Australian fans thought the final stage would be difficult, they were wrong. The ‘Socceroos’ coasted through, remaining undefeated and finishing five points clear of Japan in second.
The current crop of Australian players are certainly the best they have ever produced. Mark Schwarzer, Tim Cahill and Brett Emerton are just three of the Australian squad who are represented in the English Premier League, considered to be one of the best leagues in the world. Although they have been drawn in a tough group which contains Germany, Serbia and Ghana, Australia will not fear anyone and will recall how they pushed the eventual world champions Italy all the way in the previous competition.