Australia national football (soccer) team

Australia
Nickname(s)	Socceroos
Association	Football Federation Australia
Confederation	AFC
Head coach	Pim Verbeek
Captain	Lucas Neill
Most caps	Alex Tobin (87)
Top scorer	Damian Mori (29)
FIFA code	AUS
FIFA ranking	39
Highest FIFA ranking	33 (July 1997)
Lowest FIFA ranking	92 (June 2000)
Elo ranking	40
Highest Elo ranking	9 (November 2001)
Lowest Elo ranking	75 (November 1965)
	Home colours
	Away colours
First international
	New Zealand 3 - 1 Australia ; (Auckland, New Zealand; June 17, 1922)
Biggest win
	Australia 31 - 0 American Samoa ; (Coffs Harbour, Australia; April 11, 2001); (World Record international score)
Biggest defeat
	Australia 0 - 8 South Africa ; (Adelaide, Australia; September 17, 1955)
World Cup
Appearances	2 (First in 1974)
Best result	Round of 16, 2006
AFC Asian Cup
Appearances	1 (First in 2007)
Best result	Quarterfinals 2007
OFC Nations Cup
Appearances	6 (First in 1980)
Best result	Winners - 1980, 1996,; 2000, 2004
Confederations Cup
Appearances	3 (First in 1997)
Best result	2nd, (1997)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

The Australian national football team represents Australia in international association football competitions. Its official nickname is "the Socceroos". The team is controlled by Football Federation Australia (FFA), which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation and has had an invitation to join the ASEAN Football Federation since 2006 (Australia's Youth teams play in the ASEAN Youth Tournments). Australia is a four time Oceania Football Confederation champion and has been represented at two World Cup finals tournaments, in 1974 and 2006. The Australian National Football team is currently ranked 38th by FIFA, and 40th by the Elo Ratings.

[edit] History

The first Australian national team was constituted in 1922 for a tour of New Zealand. During that tour, Australia suffered two defeats and scraped a draw. Australia, New Zealand, China and South Africa became regular opponents in "Test" or "Friendly" matches for the next 25 years. With the advent of cheap air travel, Australia diversified its range of opponents. However, its geographical isolation continued to play a role in its destiny for the next 80 years. During this time the game has been denigrated by a concentrated media with financial interests in other codes.^[1]

[edit] Home Stadiums

Australia plays their home game all around the country, but most of their games are played at ANZ Stadium, Sydney Football Stadium, Suncorp Stadium and Telstra Dome. These are usually listed as Australia's home stadiums.

[edit] Early World Cup campaigns

The Australian national team first played at the World Cup finals in West Germany in 1974^[2]. It would prove to be their only appearance until 2006.

The road to the 1974 World Cup began with a series of home and away matches against Iraq, New Zealand, and Indonesia. The Socceroos, having won this tournament, then played and won a two-legged fixture against one of the Socceroos' biggest rivals Iran, managing to hold on to a slim overall lead in front of 120,000 Iranian fans in the Azadi Stadium, Tehran, during the second leg^[3]. South Korea, having itself knocked out Israel at the equivalent stage, was then drawn as Australia's final hurdle. Over the course of another two-legged playoff the scores remained even, and so a deciding match was played in Hong Kong, where Jimmy Mackay scored the only goal for Australia from a free kick.

The team performed with honour at the 1974 World Cup, and although unable to overcome the professional teams from host nations East and West Germany, the Socceroos, captained by local amateur Peter Wilson, did manage a scoreless draw against Chile. It was to be the last appearance for the Australian team until the World Cup tournament returned to Germany more than three decades later. Over that 32 year time span, the Australian team was known for its near misses in its attempts to qualify for the World Cup, most notably 1998 against Iran and 2002 against Uruguay.

[edit] USA 1994 qualifying campaign

Australia's road to USA 94 is an example of the difficult qualifying path which members of the Oceania confederation have had to endure. In order to qualify for USA 94, Australia had to endure 3 playoff stages. The first stage was the Oceania playoff. Australia finished on top of Group 1 in Oceania going undefeated in four games against weaker sides Tahiti and the Solomon Islands and scoring thirteen goals over the four games. Australia played New Zealand in the Oceania playoff. The first leg was played in New Zealand on May 30, 1993, with Australia winning the game 1-0. Australia won the return leg 3-0 to win the playoff stage with a 4-0 aggregate score. Having won the Oceania playoff, Australia now had to win a 2-leg playoff against Canada, the CONCACAF runner up. The first leg was played in Canada on July 31, 1993, with the Canadians winning the 1st leg 2-1. In the second leg, which was played on August 15, 1993 in Sydney, Australia managed a 2-1 win which saw the game go into extra time after a 3-3 aggregate scoreline. The game went into a penalty shootout which was won by Australia 4-1. Australia then qualified for the 2-leg playoff against the South American group 1 runner up, Argentina. The first leg was played in Sydney on October 31, 1993. The 1st leg ended with a 1-1 draw. On November 17, 1993, the second leg was played in Argentina, with Argentina winning 1-0 and denying Australia a place at the 1994 World Cup in the United States. After the game Argentine legend Diego Maradona was so impressed with the Socceroos performance that he said to then captain Paul Wade "Your tears of pain, will one day be tears of joy". Just to qualify for the 1994 World Cup Australia would have had to beat Argentina, the runners-up from the [[1990 FIFA World Cup|1990 World Cup], and ranked 9th in the world at that time.

[edit] France 1998 qualifying campaign

In 1997, after winning the OFC qualifying tournament, Australia had to play Iran over two legs in one week, with the winner progressing to the World Cup finals to be held in France. Australia, under coach Terry Venables, tied the away leg 1-1 and looked like they were going to proceed to the finals in France, initially leading 2-0 in the home game in Melbourne, until Iran managed to score two late goals. This match has been named one of the most memorable matches by many of the retired Australian and Iranian football players. The atmosphere at the MCG after the game was described as "like that of a graveyard" by many fans - At the time the crowd that packed the MCG was the highest ever for a football match in Australia, and after being very confident of progressing to the FIFA World Cup with only 30 minutes to go - suddenly being eliminated was devastating. Harry Kewell, who would become possibly the greatest Socceroo of all announced his arrival in this tie, with goals in both the away and home legs.

[edit] Korea/Japan 2002 qualifying campaign

In 2001 Australia again won the Oceania Confederation qualifying tournament for 2002 FIFA World Cup. Second and third-string lineups thrashed a number of tiny island nations in a competition that made a mockery of the Confederation, including a world-record 22-0 win against Tonga, then smashed that record with a 31-0 demolition of American Samoa days later. Still missing Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka, Australia comfortably beat New Zealand, their only real threat in the Oceania confederation. Australia then once again had to win a two leg playoff in November, in order to advance to the World Cup finals to be held in South Korea and Japan.

On this occasion the opposition was the 5th placed South American team, Uruguay. In the preceding four months Uruguay's preparation had been six World Cup qualifying matches, as follows: beat #2 ranked Brazil 1:0; drew 1:1 with #8 ranked Colombia; drew 1:1 with #2 ranked Argentina. In contrast, Australia's preparation had included no qualifying games since two matches in 4 days in June, against #81 ranked New Zealand, although had played two friendly matches - a loss to Japan in August and a 1:1 draw with France in November.

In the first leg in Melbourne, Australia won 1-0 after Kevin Muscat scored from a penalty kick; however, Australia's qualification campaign ended unsuccessfully as they lost 3-0 in the away leg in Montevideo just five days later with the South Americans proving too strong.

[edit] Outside qualification campaigns

The team's previously miserable record in World Cup competition was not reflected in their reasonable performances against strong European and South American sides, with victories in the 2001 Confederations Cup against France and Brazil. Australia finished the competition in 3rd place after a 3rd place play-off win against Brazil.

Australia also drew with France 1-1 in Melbourne in November 2001. A particular highlight for Australian football, and the one that attracted most public attention, was the 3-1 victory over traditional sporting rivals England in a friendly in London in 2003.

[edit] Germany 2006 qualifying campaign

In 2004, the team took the first steps towards qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup by topping the round-robin stage of the Oceania Football Confederation World Cup qualification tournament. The team drew 2-2 with the Solomon Islands, which combined with other results put that team ahead of New Zealand in the standings and meaning that the Solomon Islands qualified for the final playoff rather than the expected New Zealand.

Australia faces Germany in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup

Coach Frank Farina stood down from the position by "mutual consent" on June 29, 2005 after Australia failed to win a game at the 2005 Confederations Cup, citing ever increasing speculation over his position. On July 22, Guus Hiddink was announced by FIFA as the new national coach. This announcement came after intense speculation by the Australian media over potential candidates and even a premature announcement from Hiddink himself. Hiddink combined his roles as manager of Dutch club PSV Eindhoven with that of Australia, and remained the coach of Australia until the end of the Australian team's 2006 World Cup campaign, after which he accepted a position coaching Russia.

After some initial training sessions with the Australian team in the Netherlands, his first campaign as national coach resulted in a 11-1 aggregate win over the Solomon Islands in the OFC Qualifying Tournament Final. The remaining task for Hiddink and Australia was the Oceania-South America playoff against the fifth placed team from the CONMEBOL Qualifying Tournament for a place in the World Cup.

In October 2005, Australia beat Jamaica 5-0 in a friendly in London. The win was the Socceroos' biggest win against a team ranked higher than them in the FIFA World Rankings list and also Australia's biggest win against a country which has participated in the World Cup.

Australia, ranked #49, then moved on to play 18th ranked Uruguay in a rematch of the qualifying matches in 2001. Again, there was a huge contrast in preparation. Australia had only two recent qualifying matches, against #138 Solomon Islands, only three days apart. Uruguay's preparation had included four qualifying matches, in the previous two months, including: beaten #26 Colombia, drawn with #33 Ecuador, and beaten #4 Argentina.

Fearing a repeat of security problems which occurred in Montevideo in 2001, Australia announced that they would hold their training sessions in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and would only stay in Montevideo for the game. Uruguay called for the first leg to be moved a day earlier, to November 11. This idea was rejected by Australia. As a result, Uruguay had announced that they had moved the kick off time back five hours to 9:00 p.m. local time on November 12. This meant that Australia would miss their direct flight back to Sydney for the second leg. This would also mean that Uruguay would have an extra day of preparation for the second leg.

However, this plan backfired on the Uruguayans. Their plans to charter a plane for a direct flight to Sydney fell through (they ended up flying over in "economy" class seating on a regular commercial flight). When Uruguay asked to move the kickoff back, Australia, which by that time had arranged, with their sponsor Qantas, a specially fitted out 767 (which included massage tables, and much room and space) for immediately after the game, refused. Eventually, FIFA stepped in and ordered the kickoff moved back to 6:00 p.m. local time.

Australia playing Uruguay at ANZ Stadium(formerly Telstra Stadium) in 2005; the match is in the second period of extra time.

Uruguay defeated Australia 1-0 in Montevideo on November 12, 2005, after a header from Dario Rodriguez. Australia had the better of their Uruguayan opponents for a lot of the match, but they could not capitalise on their opportunities. In Sydney, on November 16 for the second leg of the qualifying series and in front of 83,000 fans at Telstra Stadium, and 3.4 million more watching the televised broadcast, and an estimated 4 million more watching in pubs and clubs, Australia led Uruguay 1-0 after 90 minutes following a goal by Mark Bresciano in the first half. The aggregate was tied, and extra time was played. Neither team scored after two periods of extra time, bringing the game to a penalty shootout. Australia won the penalty shootout 4-2, making Australia the only team to ever qualify for a World Cup via a penalty shootout. Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer made two saves and John Aloisi scored the winning penalty.

The resulting win led to scenes of wild jubilation across the country, as fans rejoiced at the Socceroos qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, their first qualification in 32 years.

Germany were also the hosts the last time Australia qualified for the World Cup back in 1974.

Immediately after that qualification, Australia went into the 2006 World Cup as the second lowest-ranked side. Their ranking on the FIFA World Rankings improved in subsequent months, leapfrogging other qualified countries.

[edit] Acceptance into the AFC

Many commentators and fans felt that the only way for Australia to progress was to abandon the Oceania Football Confederation. Football had developed over time to place increasing importance on tournaments rather than friendly matches. This established the Continental championships and their qualifiers as the major source of competitive matches for national teams. This served to starve Australia of potential opponents and resulted in long gaps between fixtures for the national team.

Johnny Warren, a respected football broadcaster and former Socceroos captain, expressed his desire for Australia to join Asia. Despite previous attempts to do so, each notoriously ending in failure, a story was leaked from Tokyo in March 2005 suggesting that FFA had entered into secret discussions with the AFC on this very issue. On March 23, the AFC Executive Committee made a unanimous decision to invite Australia to join the AFC.

AFC President, Mohammed Bin Hammam, outlined reasons for this decision.

As well as being a developed football nation, Australia brings a developed economy and this is actually what we want in football. Besides Japan, Korea, China and Saudi Arabia if Australia joins the benefits are huge, this is what we're after.

On April 17, the OFC executive committee unanimously endorsed Australia's proposed move. FIFA approved the move on June 30, and it took effect on January 1, 2006. Earlier, on December 1, the AFC Executive Committee announced that Australia will be put into the ASEAN zone. Currently, Australia is an invitee member of ASEAN Football Federation.

Australia was duly entered into the 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification which began in 2006. On January 4, Australia was drawn into group D, alongside Bahrain, Lebanon and Kuwait. Lebanon later withdrew due to recent military conflict in the area. Australia's first game as a member of the AFC was on February 22, a 3-1 win away to Bahrain in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification. They subsequently qualified for the finals on August 16 after defeating Kuwait 2-0 in Sydney.

[edit] Preparation for Germany 2006

Australia was placed into 2006 World Cup Group F, along with defending champions Brazil, Croatia and Japan.

In late December 2005, Coach Guus Hiddink appointed former Dutch player, Johan Neeskens, as Assistant Coach, to work alongside Graham Arnold, Ron Smith, Tony Franken and Anthony Crea.

On 13 February 2006, Australia launched a new home and away strip for the World Cup. The home strip, similar to the 1974 outfit, is an entirely yellow shirt with green shorts. The away strip is entirely obsidian blue with yellow trimmings (the heraldic colours of Australia). The jerseys were launched at a lavish ceremony at the Berlin Olympic Stadium in Berlin. On 17 March 2006, the FIFA World Cup trophy visited Sydney on its tour around the world.

In preparation for the upcoming World Cup, Socceroos player Tony Vidmar was ruled out of the World Cup after being diagnosed with a heart condition. In all, the squad that won the qualification matches saw 5 changes in the lead-up the World Cup finals. Joel Griffiths, Ahmad Elrich, Ljubo Milicevic, Tony Vidmar and Michael Thwaite were replaced by Joshua Kennedy, Mile Sterjovski, Michael Beauchamp, Craig Moore and Mark Milligan respectively.

As part of a national support effort for the Socceroos in Australia, the television network SBS put on a competition, "Song for the Socceroos", in order to select a World Cup anthem for the Socceroos. The winning song "Green and Gold" was announced on 16 May.^[4].

On 25 May 2006 in Melbourne, Australia played a friendly against Greece, current European Champions, and ranked #20 in FIFA rankings. Australia won 1-0 thanks to a Josip Skoko volley early on in the match. The match, at the 100,000 capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground, was sold out in only 2 hours,^[5] and was a great sendoff for Australia from home soil, despite the questionable quality of the Greek performance.

Australia played the Netherlands in a friendly match in Rotterdam on 4 June. The Dutch, ranked #3 in the world, went ahead in the 9th minute after goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer parried a Ruud van Nistelrooy shot, the Socceroos failed to clear the ball and van Nistelrooy scored with a follow-up strike. Australia's Tim Cahill equalised in the 53rd minute following a goal-line scramble after Mark Viduka hit the crossbar from a penalty kick. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. The only blemish was the dismissal of defender Luke Wilkshire in the 61st minute, after a wild challenge on Giovanni van Bronckhorst. The next day, the Socceroos left for Germany.

Australia played a final pre-World Cup friendly against 123rd-ranked Liechtenstein on 7 June. Defender Lucas Neill headed an own goal in the 8th minute, giving Liechtenstein the lead until Mile Sterjovski equalised in the 20th. Australia struggled to gain a lead on their opponents until the final 15 minutes when a goal each from Joshua Kennedy and John Aloisi won Australia the game 3-1.

[edit] Germany 2006

While in Germany for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the Socceroos stayed in the town of Öhringen. Just days before Australia's first World Cup match against Japan, it was reported in the west that the Japan Football Association chairman claimed the Socceroos were "guilty of a lot of dirty fouls" and that "they target ankles in particular." ^[6] However, a further scrutiny of the original Japanese script reveals that there was a misinterpretation by the western media, possibly to spice up the competition. While it is unclear who started this mistranslation, deliberately or otherwise, Saburo Kawabuchi of Japan Football Association later commented that this would not be the first or the last time mistranslation happens and should not be taken too seriously.

On 12 June, the Socceroos defeated Japan 3-1 in their opening game in Kaiserslautern, with Tim Cahill scoring two goals (84', 89') and John Aloisi scoring one (92+') in the last eight minutes to claim their first World Cup finals victory. An early controversial call by Egyptian referee Essam Abd El Fatah, that awarded a goal (26') to Shunsuke Nakamura, despite an apparent foul^[7] to Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, had the Australians playing catch-up until the last eight minutes. Schwarzer and Viduka claimed that Abd El Fatah apologised over allowing Nakamura's goal to stand after the incident, admitting he had made a mistake,^[8] although Abd El Fatah later denied making an apology and said that "FIFA's refereeing committee... agreed unanimously that Japan's goal against Australia was correct." ^[9] Both Cahill and Aloisi came in as substitutes in the second half of the game. Their goals are the first ever scored by Australia in the World Cup Finals, and Australia became the first team in the 2006 tournament to come back after being 1-0 down. Also, no other team has scored three goals in the last seven minutes of a match in World Cup finals history^[10].

On 18 June, hours before Australia's second game against world champions Brazil, a British newspaper claimed that several Australian players had placed bets amongst themselves, which was said to be against FIFA regulations ^[11]. Tim Cahill admitted that teammates Lucas Neill and Archie Thompson bet that Cahill would score the first ever Australian goal at the World Cup. Mark Viduka also said that the players were taking bets on who was going to be the first to score, and that goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac was the bookmaker. FIFA have since cleared all players of any wrongdoing, by interpreting their regulations as referring to betting with professional bookmakers, rather than betting within a team. ^[12]

Australia met Brazil in their second Group F game in Munich on June 18. The Australians held Brazil to a 0-0 half time scoreline before Adriano put Brazil in front (49'). Brazil substitute Fred scored (90') with the help of substitute Robinho to give Brazil a 2-0 win, which saw the Brazilians go through to the second round.

A day later, following the Brazil game, Harry Kewell was in hot water after an altercation with the referee from the Brazil game. FIFA announced that it would investigate the incident. On 20 June, charges were dismissed against Kewell due to "inconsistent reporting by match officials",^[13] allowing him to play the next game against Croatia.

On 22 June, Australia faced Croatia in Stuttgart. The final score was 2-2. A goal from Darijo Srna in the second minute put Australia on the back foot. Australia equalised with a penalty goal from Craig Moore (38'). Niko Kovac gave Croatia a 2-1 lead before Australia equalised again through Harry Kewell (79') in a moment described by SBS broadcast commentator Simon Hill as "well, it had to be Harry". Kewell appeared to be offside for the goal, in a match riddled with errors.^[14] The referee Graham Poll dismissed calls for a penalty in the 5th minute when Croatia's Josip Šimunić literally wrestled Mark Viduka to the ground near goal, missed one of two clear handballs by the Croatian defence in the penalty area, blew the final whistle at the moment that John Aloisi scored what would have been a winning goal, and, in an extraordinary error, presented Simunic with three yellow cards before sending him off after the final whistle. ^[15] Here, Simunic is the world record holder for "Most Yellow Cards in a Football Match." Poll issued eight yellow cards resulting in three expulsions. Brett Emerton was sent off for his second bookable offence (although he was already suspended for the next match for receiving his second yellow card of the group stage earlier in the match). The Daily Telegraph reported on 25 June that Graham Poll was dismissed from World Cup refereeing duties by FIFA, who claimed that his mistake was "unacceptable". ^[16] As Brazil beat Japan 4-1, Australia proceeded to the next round to face Italy.

On 26 June, Australia met Italy in Kaiserslautern. Kewell was unavailable for the game, entering the stadium on crutches reportedly suffering from an attack of gout^[17] and infected blisters (later diagnosed as septic arthritis). The score at half-time was 0-0. Italy went down to 10 men due to the red card (51') given to Marco Materazzi. Otherwise, six yellow cards were issued in total. Almost three minutes into stoppage time, a controversial penalty was awarded to Italy when Fabio Grosso went down under a Lucas Neill challenge in the final seconds of the match. Francesco Totti scored from the spot (95') and the game ended immediately with Australia eliminated. Coach Guus Hiddink officially ended his reign as the coach of the Socceroos following the 1-0 loss to Italy and took the managerial job with Russia. Australian assistant coach Graham Arnold branded the penalty a "joke", to the agreement of several Australian players, including Tim Cahill, who believed Grosso should have been cautioned for diving.^[18] Italian coach Marcello Lippi denied that Grosso had dived, describing the incident as "a clear foul".^[19]. Australia became the team to go out of a World Cup with the last kick of the ball (in regular time).

[edit] After Germany 2006 & Preparation for the 2007 Asian Cup

Following the success of the Socceroos and Guus Hiddink at the 2006 World Cup there was much speculation as to who would be the next Australian coach. There was general agreement by Australia football commentators that the Dutch style of "total football" (an approach where individual players are trained to be able to play in almost any position providing maximum tactical adaptability) suited Australia well and that Australia should again employ a Dutch coach. In the media, several famous overseas coaches were rumoured as candidates, also knowing the preference of Australian Football Federation president Frank Lowy of wanting to secure another "big name" foreign coach over a local one. However, it was Hiddink's assistant, Graham Arnold who was appointed. But at this time, it was more or less implied that he would only coach the Socceroos in a caretaker role to the upcoming Asian Cup.^[20] Former Socceroos and Adelaide United coach, John Kosmina was appointed as Arnold's assistant.^[21] They were both later confirmed to continue their roles until the conclusion of 2007 Asian Cup, while the FFA searched for Hiddink's successor to lead Socceroos for 2010 World Cup.^[22]^[23]

Australia vs Kuwait, 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualifying match, Aussie Stadium, Sydney, 16 August 2006.

After moving to AFC in 2006, Australia entered into the 2007 Asian Cup qualification. Australia was drawn into Group D, alongside Bahrain, Lebanon and Kuwait. Lebanon later withdrew due to the recent military conflict in the area. Australia began their first Asian Cup qualification campaign in February 2006, prior to the World Cup. In their first match, the Socceroos defeated Bahrain 3-1 in Manama, Bahrain.

The second qualifying match took place after the World Cup. At this time, Guus Hiddink had resigned from his position as Socceroos' coach, leaving his former assistant Graham Arnold in charge. In his first match as Socceroos' coach, Arnold managed to lead the Socceroos to victory against Kuwait 2-0 in Sydney with a squad composed only of A-League players. This win ensured Australia qualification for the 2007 Asian Cup.

Australia then finished their qualifying campaign as Group D winner with 3 wins and 1 defeat. Their first and only defeat in the 2007 Asian Cup qualification came on September 2006, when Kuwait defeated Australia 2-0 in Kuwait City, Kuwait. Later in 2006, Australia played two friendly matches against Paraguay and Ghana in their preparation for the 2007 Asian Cup. On December 19, Australia were seeded for the 2007 Asian Cup and subsequently drawn in Group A along with Thailand (one of the co-hosts), Oman and Iraq.

Australia began 2007 with a friendly match against Denmark, where they suffered their second defeat under Arnold. However, Australia bounced back in their next match, a 2-0 win away against China. Australia then played Uruguay, on June 2 in Sydney, which was known as 'The Rematch' despite the match not being an official FIFA international. Australia lost the match 2-1 with Mile Sterjovski scoring in the 6th minute but the scores were levelled in the 40th when Diego Forlan scored. But an error by young Australian keeper, Brad Jones, gave Uruguay the winner in the 77th minute.

On June 30, Australia defeated Singapore 3-0 in their final match prior to the Asian Cup. In this match, Harry Kewell returned to the Socceroos for the first time since the 2006 World Cup. He marked his return by scoring a goal in between captain Mark Viduka's brace.

[edit] Asian Cup 2007

Australia, led by Graham Arnold, went to their first Asian Cup sending a strong squad which included 15 players from the World Cup team. Australia was drawn in Group A alongside (co-host) Thailand, Oman and Iraq.

In their first match, Australia were only able to earn a 1-1 draw against a lower-ranked Oman team. Australia played poorly, with Oman leading for most of the match after Badar Al-Maimani scored in the 32nd minute, but were once again saved by Tim Cahill who scored a late equalizer in the 92nd minute after coming on as a substitute in the second half.

Australia lost their second group match 3-1 to eventual Asian Cup winners Iraq, with Lucas Neill receiving a red card (90'), following two yellow cards. Mark Viduka scored the lone goal for the Australians in the 47th minute of the match which at that point in the game was the equaliser but Iraq scored another two goals to win.

In the third match of the group stage, Australia defeated Thailand 4-0 with Mark Viduka scoring two goals, with Michael Beauchamp and Harry Kewell scoring one goal each. The victory assured Australia's progression to the quarter final stage of the tournament.

After drawing 1-1 with Japan after extra time, Australia exited the tournament on penalties at the quarter final stage. The first two Australian penalty kicks were both unsuccessful by Harry Kewell and Lucas Neill with Australia eventually bowing out 4-3 to end their inaugural participation in Asia's most prestigious football tournament.

In a friendly international at the MCG on the 11th of September, 2007, the Socceroos were defeated by Argentina one goal to nil. The friendly was Graham Arnold's last game as head coach. It had been widely speculated that Dutchman Dick Advocaat would take over as Head Coach for the Socceroos 2010 World Cup Qualifiers by the end of 2007 but he backed out of a contract with the FFA to continue coaching Zenit Petersburg. It has been reported that FFA is considering legal action against both person and club. As a result the Socceroo's head coach position was left open, with technical director Rob Baan the caretaker for a match against Nigeria at Loftus Road, London (Australia winning 1-0.) The position was filled on the 6th of December 2007 when the FFA announced Pim Verbeek as the new head coach.

[edit] South Africa 2010 qualifying campaign

The Socceroos were seeded to enter the AFC qualification campaign in the third round alongside Iran, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Japan. They were drawn into a group comprising of Qatar, Iraq and China. Fixtures started in February 2008, with a home match against Qatar at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne giving Australia a 3-0 victory. This was Pim Verbeek's first competitive match in charge of the Socceroos. The majority of the Australian squad consisted of overseas, mainly European based, players after Pim Verbeek announced the local A-league was not up to World Cup standards. A week after the match, Australia moved up to 38th on the FIFA World Rankings.

In the second group game, Australia drew 0-0 with China with Mark Schwarzer saving a penalty in the last few minutes. In their 3rd out of 6 qualifiers on Sunday, 1 June, Australia beat Iraq at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, 1-0, with a headed goal from Harry Kewell proving the difference between the two teams early in the 2nd half of play. In the return match in Dubai, Iraq defeated Australia 1-0 through a wonder strike from Emad Mohammed. Australia then defeated Qatar 3-1 on 14 June in Doha to progress to the fourth round of the AFC qualifiers.

Australia have been drawn alongside Japan, Bahrain, Qatar and Uzbekistan in the fourth round of Asian World Cup qualification, which commenced with a 1-0 victory over the Uzbeks in Tashkent on September 10 2008. Scott Chipperfield's run was unmarked and he comfortably headed in a Luke Wilkshire cross.

[edit] Player drain to other countries

One obstacle for the Socceroos is that some promising players end up playing for other nations. As many Australians have roots in Europe and qualify for European passports, they are eligible to play for non-Australian national teams. Examples of Australian-born players who have chosen other national teams are:

The following players were eligible to play for Australia but chose other national teams:

Christian Vieri - Italy. Born in Italy, raised in Australia.
Craig Johnston - England. Johnston was born in South Africa to Australian parents and raised in Australia. He played for England at the Under-21 level, but did not earn a senior cap.
Ivan Ergić - Serbia. Born in then-Yugoslavia, raised in Australia.
Georgios Samaras - Greece. His father was born in Australia.^[24]
Aleksandar Duric - Singapore. Born in Bosnia, relocated to Australia, then moved to Singapore.

[edit] Fixtures and results

Australian national football team results.

In 2006, Australia was involved in 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification matches against Bahrain and Kuwait, 2006 FIFA World Cup matches in Germany, friendly matches as preparation for 2006 FIFA World Cup against Greece, Netherlands and Liechtenstein and friendly matches as preparation for 2007 AFC Asian Cup against Paraguay and Ghana.

For more details on this topic, see Australia national football (soccer) team season 2006.

In 2007, Australia was involved in friendly matches as preparation for 2007 AFC Asian Cup against Denmark, China, Uruguay, Singapore, Argentina and Nigeria and 2007 AFC Asian Cup matches in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

For more details on this topic, see Australia national football (soccer) team season 2007.

In 2008, Australia was involved in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Qatar, China and Iraq.

For more details on this topic, see Australia national football (soccer) team season 2008.

[edit] Tournament records

[edit] World Cup

Year	Result	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930 - 1962	Did not partcipate	–	–	–	–	–	–
1966 - 1970	Did not qualify	–	–	–	–	–	–
1974	Round 1	3	0	1	2	0	5
1978 - 2002	Did not qualify	–	–	–	–	–	–
2006	Round 2	4	1	1	2	5	6
Total	2/18	7	1	2	4	5	11

[edit] Confederations Cup

Year	Result	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1992	Did not partcipate	–	–	–	–	–	–
1995	Did not partcipate	–	–	–	–	–	–
1997	Runner Up	5	2	1	2	4	8
1999	Did not qualify	–	–	–	–	–	–
2001	3rd Place	5	3	0	2	4	2
2003	Did not qualify	–	–	–	–	–	–
2005	Round 1	3	0	0	3	5	10
2009	Did not qualify	–	–	–	–	–	–
Total		13	5	1	7	13	20

[edit] Oceania Nations Cup

No longer an OFC member.

Year	Result	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1973	Did not partcipate	–	–	–	–	–	–
1980	Winner	4	4	0	0	24	2
1996	Winner	4	3	1	0	14	0
1998	Runner Up	4	3	0	1	23	3
2000	Winner	4	4	0	0	26	0
2002	Runner Up	5	4	0	1	23	2
2004	Winner	7	6	1	0	32	4
Total		28	24	2	2	142	11

[edit] Asian Cup

Year	Result	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
2007	Quarter-Final	4	1	1	2	7	5
Total		4	1	1	2	7	5

[edit] Coaches

Name	Period	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	Achievements
Tiko Jelisavcic	1965	6	3	0	3
Joe Vlatsis	1967 - 1969	23	13	7	3
Ralé Rasic	1970 - 1974	31	16	9	6	1st round at the 1974 FIFA World Cup
Brian Green	1976	2	2	0	0
Jim Shoulder	1976 - 1978	25	10	7	8
Rudi Gutendorf	1979 - 1981	18	3	8	7	Winner of the 1980 OFC Nations Cup
Les Scheinflug	1981 - 1983	12	8	1	3
Frank Arok	1983 - 1989	46	21	14	11
Les Scheinflug (caretaker during Frank Arok absence)	1983	4	3	0	1
Les Scheinflug (caretaker)	1990	1	1	0	0
Eddie Thomson	1990 - 1996	56	26	11	19	Winner of the 1996 OFC Nations Cup
Les Scheinflug (caretaker during Eddie Thomson absence)	1992	3	2	1	0
Vic Fernandez (caretaker during Eddie Thomson absence)	1992	2	1	0	1
Les Scheinflug (caretaker during Eddie Thomson absence)	1994	1	1	0	0
Raul Blanco (caretaker)	1996	2	2	0	0
Terry Venables	1997 - 1998	23	15	3	5	Runner-up of the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup
Raul Blanco (caretaker)	1998 - 1999	5	3	1	1	Runner-up of the 1998 OFC Nations Cup
Frank Farina	1999 - 2005	58	34	9	15	Winner of the 2000 OFC Nations Cup 3rd place at the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup Runner-up of the 2002 OFC Nations Cup Winner of the 2004 OFC Nations Cup 1st round of the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup
Guus Hiddink	2005 - 2006	12	7	2	3	2nd round at the 2006 FIFA World Cup
Graham Arnold	2006 - 2007	15	6	4	5	Quarter finalists at the 2007 AFC Asian Cup
Rob Baan (caretaker)	2007	1	1	0	0
Pim Verbeek	2007 -	9	4	3	2

[edit] Players

[edit] Current squad

The following players have been named in Australia's squad to play a friendly international against Netherlands at Eindhoven, Netherlands on 6 September.
Players are sorted by position and number of caps. Caps and goals are correct as of August 20, 2008.

Pos.	Player	DoB (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
GK	Mark Schwarzer	October 6, 1972	59	0	Fulham FC
GK	Michael Petkovic	July 16, 1976	6	0	Sivasspor
GK	Brad Jones	March 19, 1982	1	0	Middlesbrough
GK	Ante Čović	June 13, 1975	2	0	Newcastle Jets
DF	Lucas Neill (c)	March 9, 1978	42	0	West Ham United
DF	Chris Coyne	December 28, 1978	3	0	Colchester United
DF	Brett Emerton	February 22, 1979	66	14	Blackburn Rovers
DF	Jade North	January 7, 1981	22	0	Newcastle Jets
DF	Shane Stefanutto	January 12, 1980	1	0	FC Lyn Oslo
DF	Scott Chipperfield	December 30, 1975	56	11	FC Basel
DF	Matthew Spiranovic	27 June 1988	2	0	1. FC Nuremberg
DF	Michael Beauchamp	March 8, 1981	17	1	AaB Football
DF	Mark Milligan	August 4, 1985	6	0	Free Agent
MF	Jason Culina	August 5, 1980	33	1	PSV Eindhoven
MF	Carl Valeri	April 14, 1984	11	0	Grosseto
MF	David Carney	November 30, 1983	13	1	Sheffield United
MF	Jacob Burns	January 21, 1978	6	0	Unirea Urziceni
MF	Luke Wilkshire	October 2, 1981	27	0	Dynamo Moscow
MF	Harry Kewell	August 21, 1978	31	11	Galatasaray
MF	Vince Grella (vc)	October 5, 1979	36	0	Blackburn Rovers
MF	Richard Garcia	September 4, 1981	1	0	Hull City
MF	Mile Sterjovski	May 27, 1979	35	7	Derby County
MF	Mark Bresciano	February 11, 1980	43	10	Palermo
FW	Joshua Kennedy	August 20, 1982	7	3	Karlsruher SC
FW	Brett Holman	October 2, 1981	17	1	AZ Alkmaar
FW	Bruce Djite	March 25, 1987	6	0	Gençlerbirliği
FW	Scott McDonald	August 21, 1983	9	0	Celtic

[edit] Recent Call Ups

The following players have also been called up to the Australian squad in the past 12 months or are regular squad members.

Goalkeepers

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
Adam Federici	January 31, 1985	Reading	0 (0)	v. Iraq, 1 June 2008
Tando Velaphi	April 17, 1987	Perth Glory	0 (0)	v. Singapore, 22 March 2008
Clint Bolton	August 22, 1975	Sydney FC	4 (0)	v. Argentina, 11 September 2007

Defenders

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
Ruben Zadkovich	May 23, 1986	Derby County	1 (0)	v. China, 22 June 2008
Adam Griffiths	August 21, 1981	Newcastle Jets	2 (0)	v. Ghana, 23 May 2008
Rodrigo Vargas	20 October 1978	Melbourne Victory	0 (0)	v. China, 22 June 2008
Patrick Kisnorbo	March 24, 1981	Leicester City	14 (0)	v. China, 26 March 2008
Nikolai Topor-Stanley	March 11, 1985	Perth Glory	3 (0)	v. China, 22 June 2008
Adrian Leijer	March 25, 1986	Fulham	1 (0)	v. Singapore, 22 March 2008
Nigel Boogaard	August 14, 1986	Central Coast Mariners	0 (0)	v. Singapore, 22 March 2008
Tarek Elrich	January 1, 1987	Newcastle Jets	0 (0)	v. Singapore, 22 March 2008
Michael Thwaite	May 2, 1983	Melbourne Victory	6 (0)	v. Nigeria, November 17, 2007

Midfielders

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
Stuart Musialik	March 29, 1985	Sydney FC	0 (0)	v. China, 22 June 2008
Kristian Sarkies	October 25, 1986	Adelaide United	2 (0)	v. China, 22 June 2008
Leigh Broxham	January 13, 1988	Melbourne Victory	1 (0)	v. Ghana, 23 May 2008
Neil Kilkenny	December 19, 1985	Leeds United	2 (0)	v. China, 22 June 2008
Billy Celeski	July 14, 1985	Melbourne Victory	0 (0)	v. Singapore, 22 March 2008
James Holland	May 15, 1989	Newcastle Jets	3 (0)	v. China, 22 June 2008
Michael Zullo	September 11, 1988	Queensland Roar	0 (0)	v. Singapore, 22 March 2008
Mile Jedinak	August 3, 1984	Central Coast Mariners	3 (0)	v. China, 22 June 2008
Nick Carle	November 23, 1981	Crystal Palace	7 (0)	v. Qatar, 14 June 2008
Tim Cahill	December 6, 1979	Everton	28 (13)	v. Qatar, 6 February 2008

Strikers

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
Nikita Rukavytsya	22 June 1987	Perth Glory	0 (0)	v. Iraq, 1 June 2008
Matt Simon	January 22, 1986	Central Coast Mariners	0 (0)	v. Iraq, 1 June 2008
Daniel Allsopp	August 10, 1978	Melbourne Victory	2 (0)	v. Ghana, 23 May 2008
Mark Bridge	November 7, 1985	Sydney FC	2 (0)	v. Ghana, 23 May 2008
David Williams	February 26, 1988	Brondby IF	1 (0)	v. China, 22 June 2008
Joel Griffiths	August 21, 1979	Newcastle Jets	3 (1)	v. Ghana, 23 May 2008
Archie Thompson	October 23, 1978	Melbourne Victory	30 (21)	v. China, 26 March 2008
Ryan Griffiths	August 21, 1981	Liaoning	5 (0)	v. Singapore, 22 March 2008
James Troisi	July 3, 1988	Gençlerbirliği S.K.	3 (0)	v. China, 22 June 2008
Nathan Burns	May 7, 1988	AEK Athens FC	2 (0)	v. Singapore, 22 March 2008
John Aloisi	February 5, 1976	Sydney FC	55 (27)	v. Qatar, 6 February 2008

[edit] Previous squads

[edit] Notable former players

Players are ordered by year of debut with national football team

1947

1955

Ron Lord

1965

Johnny Warren

1967

1969

Adrian Alston

1970

1974

Harry Williams

1977

John Kosmina

1979

Eddie Krn�?ević

1980

Alan Edward Davidson

1981

1983

1984

Frank Farina

1985

Graham Arnold

1986

Paul Wade

1988

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

Kevin Muscat

1995

1996

Paul Agostino

1997

Josip Skoko

[edit] Players with most caps

As of 23 July 2007, the players with the most caps for Australia are:

#	Name	Career	Caps	Goals
1	Alex Tobin	1988 - 1998	87	2
2	Paul Wade	1986 - 1996	84	10
3	Tony Vidmar	1991 - 2006	76	3
4	Brett Emerton	1998 -	67	14
5	Peter Wilson	1970 - 1977	64	3
6	Attila Abonyi	1967 - 1977	61	25
7	John Kosmina	1977 - 1988	60	25
7	Stan Lazaridis	1993 - 2006	60	0
9	Milan Ivanović	1991 - 1998	59	0
10	Tony Popović	1995 - 2006	58	8
10	Mark Schwarzer	1993 - present	58	0
11	Jimmy Rooney	1970 - 1980	57	4

[edit] Players with most goals

As of 22 July 2007, the players with the most goals for Australia are:

#	Name	Career	Goals (Caps)	Average
1	Damian Mori	1992 - 2002	29 (45)	0.64
2	John Aloisi	1997 -	27 (54)	0.52
3	John Kosmina	1977 - 1988	25 (60)	0.42
3	Attila Abonyi	1967 - 1977	25 (61)	0.41
5	Archie Thompson	2001 -	21 (27)	0.78
5	David Zdrilić	1997 - 2005	21 (30)	0.7
7	Graham Arnold	1985 - 1997	19 (56)	0.34
8	Ray Baartz	1967 - 1974	18 (48)	0.38
9	Gary Cole	1978 - 1982	17 (19)	0.89
9	Aurelio Vidmar	1991 - 2001	17 (44)	0.39

[edit] Records

[edit] Most goals in a match

13 - Archie Thompson (world record) v American Samoa, 2001
8 - David Zdrillic v American Samoa, 2001
7 - Gary Cole v Fiji, 1981
6 - John Aloisi v Tonga, 2001
5 - Damian Mori v Solomon Islands, 1997

[edit] Highest team score

31 (world record) v American Samoa, 2001
22 v Tonga, 2001
17 v Cook Islands, 2000
16 v Cook Islands, 1998
13 v Solomon Islands, 1997

[edit] Sponsors

Sponsorship has generally been hard to find for the Socceroos as until 2005 football (soccer) in Australia was not seen as an attractive investment for companies. After Australia qualifed for the 2006 World Cup potential sponsors saw the Socceroos profile rise and jumped on board the so called bandwagon.

Currently the Socceroos are sponsored by Qantas, the Major Sponsor, and Nike, the Kit Supplier. Other sponsors include Foxtel, Hyundai, NAB, Powerade, Telstra & Westfield.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

^ http://edmundoe.tripod.com/index.htm
^ "Team Profile", FIFA (2001).
^ "The Socceroos World Cup Qualification".
^ "We have a winner", SBS (16 May 2006).
^ "G, it's a sellout for World Cup send-off", Herald Sun (5 April 2006).
^ "Hiddink dismisses dirty Roos claims", ABC (11 June 2006).
^ "Key moments of the match", Australian Associated Press (13 June 2006).
^ "Abdul-Fattah: I did not apologize to the Aussies", FilBalad.com (13 June 2006).
^ "Abdul-Fattah: I did not apologize to the Aussies", FilBalad.com (13 June 2006).
^ "Australia 3-1 Japan", BBC Sport (12 June 2006).
^ "Aussies could face betting probe", Sky Sports (18 June 2006).
^ "AUSSIES GET FIFA BETTING ALL-CLEAR", Sporting Life.com (18 June 2006).
^ "Ref's retaliation may have saved Kewell", Australian Associated Press (21 June 2006).
^ "Croatia 2-2 Australia", BBC Sport (22 June 2006).
^ "Frustrated Emerton denied an explanation", Sydney Morning Herald (28 June 2006).
^ "Red card for Poll after clanger", The Daily Telegraph (24 June 2006).
^ "Kewell was out with gout", The Daily Telegraph (Australia) (27 June 2006).
^ "Italian penalty a 'joke', say Socceroos", NineMSN (28 June 2006).
^ "It's a fair penalty, says Italian coach Lippi", Herald Sun (28 June 2006).
^ "Arnold to take the reins for next two matches", Football Federation Australia (21 July 2006).
^ "Kosmina appointed to Qantas Socceroos", Football Federation Australia (03 August 2006).
^ "Arnold's job safe until Asian Cup", ABC (13 November 2006).
^ "Kosmina in from the cold", The Daily Telegraph (Australia) (18 May 2007).
^ "Star who slipped the net", The Age (24 May 2006).

Preceded by 1973 New Zealand	Oceanian Champions 1980 (First title) 1996 (Second title)	Succeeded by 1998 New Zealand
Preceded by 1998 New Zealand	Oceanian Champions 2000 (Third title)	Succeeded by 2002 New Zealand
Preceded by 2002 New Zealand	Oceanian Champions 2004 (Fourth title)	Succeeded by Incumbent^[1]
Preceded by Japan	AFC Men's Team of the Year 2006	Succeeded by Iraq

[0] ttp://edmundoe.tripod.com/index.htm

[1] "Team Profile", FIFA (2001).

[2] "The Socceroos World Cup Qualification".

[3] "We have a winner", SBS (16 May 2006).

[4] "G, it's a sellout for World Cup send-off", Herald Sun (5 April 2006).

[5] "Hiddink dismisses dirty Roos claims", ABC (11 June 2006).

[6] "Key moments of the match", Australian Associated Press (13 June 2006).

[7] "Abdul-Fattah: I did not apologize to the Aussies", FilBalad.com (13 June 2006).

[8] "Abdul-Fattah: I did not apologize to the Aussies", FilBalad.com (13 June 2006).

[9] "Australia 3-1 Japan", BBC Sport (12 June 2006).

[10] "Aussies could face betting probe", Sky Sports (18 June 2006).

[11] "AUSSIES GET FIFA BETTING ALL-CLEAR", Sporting Life.com (18 June 2006).

[12] "Ref's retaliation may have saved Kewell", Australian Associated Press (21 June 2006).

[13] "Croatia 2-2 Australia", BBC Sport (22 June 2006).

[14] "Frustrated Emerton denied an explanation", Sydney Morning Herald (28 June 2006).

[15] "Red card for Poll after clanger", The Daily Telegraph (24 June 2006).

[16] "Kewell was out with gout", The Daily Telegraph (Australia) (27 June 2006).

[17] "Italian penalty a 'joke', say Socceroos", NineMSN (28 June 2006).

[18] "It's a fair penalty, says Italian coach Lippi", Herald Sun (28 June 2006).

[19] "Arnold to take the reins for next two matches", Football Federation Australia (21 July 2006).

[20] "Kosmina appointed to Qantas Socceroos", Football Federation Australia (03 August 2006).

[21] "Arnold's job safe until Asian Cup", ABC (13 November 2006).

[22] "Kosmina in from the cold", The Daily Telegraph (Australia) (18 May 2007).

[23] "Star who slipped the net", The Age (24 May 2006).

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[1]