World Cup 2006 in Germany

Aussies exit World Cup with heads held high / 26/06/06

Australia fell to a sucker punch as Italy secured their place in the quarter finals of the World Cup with a highly dubious injury time penalty from Totti.

Marco Materazzi's second half sending off had given the Soceroos hope but in fairness the Ozzies never pushed on enough to get the goal that would defeat their illustrious opponents.

A battling performance left the Soceroo fans proud but thinking what might have been had their boys attacked a bit more with their one man advantage.

Aussies progress despite referee farce / 22/06/06

Australia twice came from a goal down to claim a 2-2 draw with Croatia to book their place in the second round, this in spite of Pommy referee Graham Poll booking a Croatia player three times before sending him off (it's usually 2 yellow card = red Graham!!!).

Croatia were given the perfect start as Dario Srna fired home a superb free kick, but they were pegged back by a Craig Moore penalty.

A terrible blunder from Australia keeper Zeljko "Spider" Kalac handed Croatia the lead for a second time, but Liverpool star Harry Kewell popped up to volley home 12 minutes from time to spark green and gold scenes of joy in Stuttgart. The Soceroos now face Italy in the second round. Should be a tough game!

Aussies so close against Brazil / 18/06/06

Australia produced a magnificent performance to push world champions all the way in this exciting encounter. The first half saw the Soceroos defend stoutly while playing some inventive football when they had the ball at their feet.

Brazil took the lead minutes into the second half when Ronaldo played in Adriano who fired home from the edge of the area. The introduction of Harry Kewell helped to raise the Aussie's game and he really should have scored with his first touch after Dida had fumbled a cross. Kewell went close again when he shot from over forty yards but his speculative effort landed just the wrong side of the cross bar.

The Brazillian's doubled their lead in the closing minutes when the excellently named Fred tapped in at the far post. Australia can be proud of their performance with Lucas Neill in particular in terrific form.

Aussies come from behind to win opener / 12/06/06

Australia produced a startling late comeback to come from behind to beat Japan 3-1 in the blistering heat of Kaiserslautern. Shunsuke Nakamura's of Celtic opened the scoring after 26 minutes, and this looked to have given Japan a crucial Group F win at the Fritz Walter Stadion.

However, Australia came storming back and substitute Tim Cahill of Everton popped up with two goals in the final six minutes to turn the match on its head and stun the Japanese.

A dramatic finale also should have seen Cahill give away a penalty, but John Aloisi of Spanish side Alaves bagged a third for Australia in what was a thrilling way for Guus Hiddink's men to claim the country's first goals and first ever victory in the World Cup finals.

World Cup Fixtures

N.B. Kick off times are German Local time.

Match	Date	Venue	Teams			Time	Score
12	12-Jun-06	Kaiserslautern		AUS:JPN		15:00	3 - 1
27	18-Jun-06	Munich		BRA:AUS		18:00	0 - 2
44	22-Jun-06	Stuttgart		CRO:AUS		21:00

Australia's appearance at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany will be the first time the Socceroos have made the final tournament since their one and only other appearance, again in Germany back in 1974. That campaign featured one draw (vs Chile) and two losses but with World Class players such as Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka in the squad this year, the Socceroos can hope for far better!

Star Players

Harry Kewell - Liverpool (ENG)
Mark Viduka - Middlesborough (ENG)
Tim Cahill - Everton (ENG)

Australia's World Cup Stats

• Australia have appeared in the FIFA World Cup™ qualifiers a total of ten times since 1966, making it to the finals only once, in 1974. Following defeats by the former DDR and subsequent world champions Germany, they held Chile to a creditable 0-0 draw in their last group game but were still eliminated.
• More recently, their hopes of qualifying for the 2002 FIFA World Cup were once again dashed at the final hurdle. The team from Oz lost out in the play-offs between Oceania's top side and South America's fifth-placed team.
• Following a 1-0 home win, they were beaten 3-0 by Uruguay in a return game which decided their fate. Despite this, Australian football is on the up and up. In 2003, their 3-1 win in England was a result to savour.