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	37
Highest FIFA ranking	31 (July 1997)
Lowest FIFA ranking	92 (June 2000)
Elo ranking	30
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; 17 June 1922)
Biggest win
	Australia 31 - 0 American Samoa ; (Coffs Harbour, Australia; 11 April 2001); (World Record international score)
Biggest defeat
	Australia 0 - 8 South Africa ; (Adelaide, Australia; 17 September 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)

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The Australian national football team represents Australia in international 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 Tournaments). Australia is a four time Oceania Football Confederation champion and has been represented at two World Cup finals tournaments, in 1974 and 2006. According to the FIFA Rankings The Australian National Football team is one the strongest countries in Asia and is currently ranked 37th by FIFA, and 30th 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 games 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 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 30 May 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 31 July 1993, with the Canadians winning the 1st leg 2-1. In the second leg, which was played on 15 August 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 31 October 1993. The 1st leg ended with a 1-1 draw. On 17 November 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 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 only two 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 29 June 2005 after Australia failed to win a game at the 2005 Confederations Cup, citing ever increasing speculation over his position. On 22 July, 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 11 November. 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 12 November. 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 12 November 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 16 November 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 23 March, 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 17 April, the OFC executive committee unanimously endorsed Australia's proposed move. FIFA approved the move on 30 June, and it took effect on 1 January 2006. Earlier, on 1 December, 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 4 January, 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 22 February, a 3-1 win away to Bahrain in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification. They subsequently qualified for the finals on 16 August 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 18 June. 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. However, further analysis of the incident in slow motion clearly shows Neil using his hands to bring down Grosso after the ball had passed the Australian defender.^[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 19 December, 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 2 June 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 30 June, 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 with the media dubbing it the "group of death". 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 yet 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. They then proceeded to beat Qatar 4-0 at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, to go top of the group, with goals scored by Tim Cahill, Brett Emerton (2) & Josh Kennedy. The game was delayed 30min (and close to abandoned) after a torrential rainstorm hit Brisbane Stadium prior to the match. Their next match was against Bahrain on the 19th of November. Australia managed a 1-0 victory despite a brilliant performance by the Bahrainis and a disappointing performance by Australia. Both the Australian coach and players admitted they were lucky to take the points which came courtesy of a Marco Bresciano goal in the 93rd minute. They dedicated the win to Craig Moore who missed the match following surgery for testicular cancer. Australia remain top of the group with a maximum 9 points after 3 games and are due to play their next match away to Japan in February 2009.

[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.

The following were Australian-born players who chose other national teams:

The following players are currently playing for other youth national teams, yet were either born or lived a considerable amount of their youth in Australia but are still eligible to play for Australia:

Rhys Williams - Wales under-21. Born and grew up in Perth. Middlesbrough player was called up to the Welsh national side but has not yet played an A-International.
Alex Cisak - Poland under-19. Grew up in Hobart, at age sixteen moved to Leicester City where he is now goalkeeper for the reserves.
Shane Lowry - Republic of Ireland under-21.
Paul Giannou - Greece under-19. Grew up in Melbourne, represented the Joeys in 2006. Also appeared in a pre-season friendly for Melbourne Victory in 2006. He now plays in the Greek second division for Apollon Kalamarias.
Dean Bouzanis - Greece under-19. Currently playing in the reserves at Liverpool, has represented both Australia and Greece.

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

Christian Vieri - Italy. Born in Italy, raised in Australia. Brother Max Vieri went on to represent Australia at senior level.
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]

Less notable players who were either born or eligible to play for Australia but chose other senior or youth national teams:

Buddy Farah - Lebanon. Played for the Olyroos before switching to Lebanon.
Michael Reda - Lebanon.
Jamie McMaster - England under-21. Represented England while playing for Leeds United, later played in the A-League for the Central Coast
Kyle Nix - England under-19. Born to Englishman Peter Nix, while he played for Penrith City, but moved to England at a young age, spent three years at Manchester United and now plays for Bradford City.
Aleksandar Durić - Singapore. Born in Yugoslavia, relocated to Australia, then moved to Singapore. In 2008 he played against the Socceroos in a friendly.

[edit] Fixtures and 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.

In 2009, Australia will be continuing their quest to get to the 2010 FIFA World Cup with the last of the World Cup Qualifiers against Japan, Bahrain, Qatar and Uzbekistan. Australia will also be vying for a place in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup with qualification matches against Indonesia, Oman and Kuwait.

For more details on this topic, see Australia national football (soccer) team season 2009.

[edit] All time results record

The following is a list of all international games that Australia has played in their history (as of 20 November 2008). They have played New Zealand the most times with 62 matches. Their best record against another country is 100% (9 wins from 9 games) against Tahiti. Their worst record against another country is 0% (0 wins, 6 losses and 2 draws) against Czechoslovakia.

See also Australian national football team results for all results of all games.

Team	First Played	Played	Win	Draw	Loss	Goals For	Goals Against
New Zealand	1922	62	38	11	13	150	42
Canada	1924	7	4	1	2	12	11
India	1938	7	3	1	3	21	29
South Africa	1947	20	6	3	11	26	46
Japan	1956	16	6	5	5	23	23
Korea DPR	1965	2	0	0	2	2	9
Cambodia	1965	1	0	1	0	0	0
Hong Kong	1965	7	4	0	3	12	5
Chinese Taipei	1965	12	11	1	0	40	6
Malaysia	1965	6	5	0	1	14	1
South Vietnam	1967	2	2	0	0	2	0
Singapore	1967	7	6	1	0	21	4
Korea Republic	1967	22	9	7	6	30	26
Indonesia	1967	13	10	2	1	31	6
Greece	1969	9	3	3	3	12	12
Zimbabwe	1969	3	1	2	0	4	2
Israel	1969	17	4	9	3	18	16
Mexico	1970	5	2	2	1	8	7
Philippines	1972	1	1	0	0	6	0
Iraq	1973	6	3	1	2	7	6
Iran	1973	6	1	2	3	6	7
Uruguay	1974	9	4	1	4	6	8
East Germany	1974	1	0	0	1	0	2
West Germany	1974	1	0	0	1	0	3
Chile	1974	4	0	1	3	1	6
Fiji	1977	9	7	0	2	38	6
Kuwait	1977	8	3	1	4	6	8
Czechoslovakia	1980	8	0	2	6	3	19
Papua New Guinea	1980	1	1	0	0	11	2
England	1980	6	1	2	3	5	6
Northern Ireland	1980	3	0	1	2	3	5
Thailand	1982	3	3	0	0	10	0
China PR	1983	7	3	1	3	10	6
Scotland	1985	4	1	1	2	2	3
Morocco	1987	1	1	0	0	1	0
Egypt	1987	1	1	0	0	4	3
Brazil	1988	7	1	1	5	1	14
Saudi Arabia	1988	3	1	1	1	3	1
Argentina	1988	7	1	1	5	6	12
Nigeria	1988	2	2	0	0	2	0
Sweden	1992	5	2	2	1	2	2
United States	1992	2	1	1	0	1	0
Croatia	1992	5	2	2	1	6	10
Solomon Islands	1992	10	9	1	0	55	7
Tahiti	1992	9	9	0	0	38	2
France	1994	3	1	1	1	2	2
Colombia	1995	3	0	1	2	2	4
Ghana	1995	6	4	1	1	7	3
Kenya	1996	1	1	0	0	4	0
Norway	1997	2	1	1	0	3	2
FYR Macedonia	1997	1	1	0	0	1	0
Hungary	1997	2	2	0	0	6	1
Tunisia	1997	2	1	0	1	3	2
Cook Islands	1998	2	2	0	0	33	0
Slovakia	2000	1	0	1	0	0	0
Bulgaria	2000	1	0	1	0	1	1
Czech Republic	2000	1	0	0	1	1	3
Paraguay	2000	4	1	3	0	3	2
Vanuatu	2000	3	3	0	0	6	0
Tonga	2001	1	1	0	0	22	0
American Samoa	2001	1	1	0	0	31	0
Samoa	2001	1	1	0	0	11	0
New Caledonia	2002	1	1	0	0	11	0
Republic of Ireland	2003	1	0	0	1	1	2
Jamaica	2003	2	2	0	0	7	1
Venezuela	2004	1	0	1	0	1	1
Turkey	2004	2	0	0	2	1	4
Germany	2005	1	0	0	1	3	4
Bahrain	2006	3	3	0	0	6	1
Netherlands	2006	2	1	1	0	3	2
Liechtenstein	2006	1	1	0	0	3	1
Italy	2006	1	0	0	1	0	1
Denmark	2007	1	0	0	1	1	3
Oman	2007	1	0	1	0	1	1
Qatar	2008	3	3	0	0	10	1
Uzbekistan	2008	1	1	0	0	1	0

[edit] Tournament records

[edit] World Cup

FIFA World Cup Record
Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1930	Did Not Participate	-	-	-	-	-	-
1934		-	-	-	-	-	-
1938		-	-	-	-	-	-
1950		-	-	-	-	-	-
1954		-	-	-	-	-	-
1958		-	-	-	-	-	-
1962		-	-	-	-	-	-
1966	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1970	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1974	Round 1	3	0	1	2	0	5
1978	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1982		-	-	-	-	-	-
1986		-	-	-	-	-	-
1990		-	-	-	-	-	-
1994		-	-	-	-	-	-
1998		-	-	-	-	-	-
2002		-	-	-	-	-	-
2006	Round 2	4	1	1	2	5	6
2010	-	-	-	-	-	-
2014	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	2/18	7	1	2	4	5	11

[edit] Confederations Cup

Year	Result	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1992	Did not participate	–	–	–	–	–	–
1995	Did not participate	–	–	–	–	–	–
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 participate	–	–	–	–	–	–
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	Win %	Achievements
Tiko Jelisavcic	1965	6	3	0	3	50%
Joe Vlatsis	1967 - 1969	23	13	7	3	57%
Ralé Rasic	1970 - 1974	31	16	9	6	52%	1st round at the 1974 FIFA World Cup
Brian Green	1976	2	2	0	0	100%
Jim Shoulder	1976 - 1978	25	10	7	8	40%
Rudi Gutendorf	1979 - 1981	18	3	8	7	17%	Winner of the 1980 OFC Nations Cup
Les Scheinflug	1981 - 1983	12	8	1	3	67%
Frank Arok	1983 - 1989	46	21	14	11	46%
Les Scheinflug (caretaker during Frank Arok absence)	1983	4	3	0	1	75%
Les Scheinflug (caretaker)	1990	1	1	0	0	100%
Eddie Thomson	1990 - 1996	56	26	11	19	46%	Winner of the 1996 OFC Nations Cup
Les Scheinflug (caretaker during Eddie Thomson absence)	1992	3	2	1	0	67%
Vic Fernandez (caretaker during Eddie Thomson absence)	1992	2	1	0	1	50%
Les Scheinflug (caretaker during Eddie Thomson absence)	1994	1	1	0	0	100%
Raul Blanco (caretaker)	1996	2	2	0	0	100%
Terry Venables	1997 - 1998	23	15	3	5	65%	Runner-up of the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup
Raul Blanco (caretaker)	1998 - 1999	5	3	1	1	60%	Runner-up of the 1998 OFC Nations Cup
Frank Farina	1999 - 2005	58	34	9	15	59%	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	58%	2nd round at the 2006 FIFA World Cup
Graham Arnold	2006 - 2007	15	6	4	5	40%	Quarter finalists at the 2007 AFC Asian Cup
Rob Baan (caretaker)	2007	1	1	0	0	100%
Pim Verbeek	2007 -	13	8	3	2	62%

[edit] Top 5 Coaches by Win Record

Rank	Name	Period	Win %	Pts./Game
1	Les Scheinflug (incl. 9 matches as caretaker)	1981 - 1994	71%	2.24
2	Terry Venables	1997 - 1998	65%	2.09
3	Pim Verbeek	2007 -	62%	2.11
4	Frank Farina	1999 - 2005	59%	1.91
5	Guus Hiddink	2005 - 2006	58%	1.92

[edit] Players

[edit] Current squad

The following players were named in Australia's squad to play a WCQ match against Bahrain on 19 November.
Caps and goals are correct as of 13 November 2008.

No.	Pos.	Player	DoB (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Mark Schwarzer	6 October 1972	61	0	Fulham
2	DF	Lucas Neill (c)	9 March 1978	45	0	West Ham United
3	DF	Jade North	7 January 1982	22	0	Newcastle Jets
4	MF	Tim Cahill	6 December 1979	29	14	Everton
5	MF	Jason Čulina	5 August 1980	35	1	PSV Eindhoven
6	DF	Chris Coyne	20 December 1978	5	0	Colchester United
7	MF	Brett Emerton	22 February 1979	69	16	Blackburn Rovers
8	MF	Luke Wilkshire	2 October 1981	30	0	Dynamo Moscow
9	FW	Joshua Kennedy	20 August 1982	9	5	Karlsruher SC
10	MF	Harry Kewell	22 September 1978	38	12	Galatasaray
11	MF	David Carney	30 November 1983	16	1	Sheffield United
12	GK	Michael Petkovic	16 July 1976	6	0	Sivasspor
13	MF	Vince Grella	5 October 1979	36	0	Blackburn Rovers
14	FW	Brett Holman	27 March 1984	20	1	AZ Alkmaar
15	MF	Richard Garcia	4 September 1981	2	0	Hull City
16	MF	Carl Valeri	14 April 1984	13	0	Grosseto
17	FW	Scott McDonald	21 August 1983	10	0	Celtic
18	GK	Adam Federici	31 January 1985	0	0	Reading
19	FW	Bruce Djite	25 March 1987	8	0	Gençlerbirliği S.K.
20	DF	Shane Stefanutto	12 January 1980	1	0	Lyn Oslo
21	MF	Mile Sterjovski	27 May 1979	38	7	Derby County
22	DF	Mark Milligan	4 August 1985	6	0	Newcastle Jets
23	MF	Mark Bresciano	11 February 1980	45	10	Palermo
24	MF	Jacob Burns	21 April 1978	8	0	Unirea Urziceni

[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
Ante Čović	13 June 1975	Newcastle Jets	2 (0)	v. China, 22 June 2008
Brad Jones	19 March 1982	Middlesbrough	1 (0)	v. Uzbekistan, 10 September 2008
Tando Velaphi	17 April 1987	Perth Glory	0 (0)	v. Singapore, 22 March 2008

Defenders

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
Michael Beauchamp	8 March 1981	Aalborg BK	18 (1)	v. Uzbekistan, 10 September 2008
Ruben Zadkovich	23 May 1986	Derby County	1 (0)	v. China, 22 June 2008
Craig Moore	12 December 1975	Queensland Roar	40 (3)	v. Qatar, 15 October 2008
Rodrigo Vargas	20 October 1978	Melbourne Victory	0 (0)	v. China, 22 June 2008
Matthew Špiranović	27 June 1988	Nuremberg	2 (0)	v. Qatar, 15 October 2008
Nikolai Topor-Stanley	11 March 1985	Perth Glory	3 (0)	v. China, 22 June 2008
Adam Griffiths	21 August 1981	Newcastle Jets	2 (0)	v. Ghana, 23 May 2008
Patrick Kisnorbo	24 March 1981	Leicester City	14 (0)	v. China, 26 March 2008
Adrian Leijer	25 March 1986	Fulham	1 (0)	v. Singapore, 22 March 2008
Nigel Boogaard	14 August 1986	Central Coast Mariners	0 (0)	v. Singapore, 22 March 2008
Tarek Elrich	1 January 1987	Newcastle Jets	0 (0)	v. Singapore, 22 March 2008

Midfielders

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
Nick Carle	23 November 1981	Crystal Palace	7 (0)	v. South Africa, 19 August 2008
Neil Kilkenny	19 December 1985	Leeds United	2 (0)	v. China, 22 June 2008
Stuart Musialik	29 March 1985	Sydney FC	0 (0)	v. China, 22 June 2008
Kristian Sarkies	25 October 1986	Adelaide United	2 (0)	v. China, 22 June 2008
James Holland	15 May 1989	Newcastle Jets	3 (0)	v. China, 22 June 2008
Leigh Broxham	13 January 1988	Melbourne Victory	1 (0)	v. Ghana, 23 May 2008

Strikers

Name	Date of birth	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
David Williams	26 February 1988	Brondby IF	1 (0)	v. China, 22 June 2008
Mark Viduka	9 October 1975	Newcastle United	43 (11)	v. Japan, 21 July 2007
James Troisi	3 July 1988	Gençlerbirliği S.K.	3 (0)	v. China, 22 June 2008
Daniel Allsopp	10 August 1978	Melbourne Victory	2 (0)	v. Ghana, 23 May 2008
Mark Bridge	7 November 1985	Sydney FC	2 (0)	v. Ghana, 23 May 2008
Joel Griffiths	21 August 1979	Newcastle Jets	3 (1)	v. Ghana, 23 May 2008
Archie Thompson	23 October 1978	Melbourne Victory	30 (21)	v. China, 26 March 2008
Nikita Rukavytsya	22 June 1987	Perth Glory	0 (0)	v. Singapore, 22 March 2008
Ryan Griffiths	21 August 1981	Liaoning	5 (0)	v. Singapore, 22 March 2008
Nathan Burns	7 May 1988	AEK Athens FC	2 (0)	v. Singapore, 22 March 2008
John Aloisi	5 February 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 19 November 2008, 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 -	69	16
5	Peter Wilson	1970 - 1977	64	3
6	Mark Schwarzer	1993 -	63	0
7	Attila Abonyi	1967 - 1977	61	25
8	John Kosmina	1977 - 1988	60	25
8	Stan Lazaridis	1993 - 2006	60	0
10	Milan Ivanović	1991 - 1998	59	0
11	Tony Popović	1995 - 2006	58	8
12	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, Optus & 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 (3 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 (3 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).

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