Australia

The Players


1	- Mark Schwarzer
2	- Lucas Neill
3	- Craig Moore
4	- Tim Cahill
5	- Jason Culina
6	- Tony Popovic
7	- Brett Emerton
8	- Josip Skoko
9	- Mark Viduka
10	- Harry Kewell
11	- Stan Lazaridis
12	- Ante Covic
13	- Vince Grella
14	- Scott Chipperfield
15	- John Aloisi
16	- Michael Beauchamp
17	- Archie Thompson
18	- Zeljko Kalac
19	- Joshua Kennedy
20	- Luke Wilkshire
21	- Mile Sterjovski
22	- Mark Milligan
23	- Marco Bresciano

The Games

First round (Group F):

Australia vs Japan - 12 June, 1400 BST, Kaiserslautern

Australia vs Brazil - 18 June, 1700 BST, Munich

Australia vs Croatia - 22 June, 2000 BST, Stuttgart

Factoids

How they got there: With a truly nail-biting penalty shoot-out victory against Uruguay after their two-legged play-off ended 1-1. Sweet revenge indeed for four years ago when they went out at the same stage.

Qualifying star: Mark Schwarzer. The Middlesbrough custodian was nearly taken off before penalties, but came to the party big time with two stunning spot-kick saves.

Manager: Russian-bound Dutch coach Guus Hiddink has waved his World Cup magic wand yet again. Taking over from Frank Farina in July, he cast a spell over the Socceroos and completed what he called 'almost mission impossible' when he arrived in the job.

Captain: Mark Viduka. The big Middlesbrough hitman will be grateful his missed penalty did not cost his team dearly, but his experience and finishing ability will be a major factor in Germany.

World Cup history: None really. Qualified in 1974, but endured a goal-less and pretty much pointless three games.

World Cup high: Think we saw it last November.

World Cup low: Play-off defeats to Iran and Uruguay in 1997 and 2001 respectively.

World Cup legend: The title is surely up for grabs in Germany.

Stars of the team: Harry Kewell. The Liverpool winger showed in the second leg when he came on and tormented the Uruguayans he is one Aussie player capable of truly world-class displays.

Strengths: Plenty of flair going forward and a host of options in the middle of the park.

Weaknesses: A telling lack of pace and genuine quality at the back will be Hiddink's main concern going into a major tournament.

Did you know: Everton midfielder Tim Cahill represented Samoa in an Under-20 tournament in 1994, when he was just 14-years-old.

World ranking: 42

Wordcup Statistics

Year	Country	Placed

1930	Uruguay	-
1934	Italy	-
1938	France	-
1950	Brazil	-
1954	Switzerland	-
1958	Sweden	-
1962	Chile	-
1966	England	-
1970	Mexico	-
1974	Germany	4th group one
1978	Argentina	-
1982	Spain	-
1986	Mexico	-
1990	Italy	-
1994	USA	-
1998	France	-
2002	Korea/Japan	-

What are the odds

Odds: 80/1

Odds supplied by William Hill.