Australia national association football team

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For current information on this topic, see Australia national football team season 2009.

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	16
Highest FIFA ranking	16 (July 2009)
Lowest FIFA ranking	92 (June 2000)
Elo ranking	32
Highest Elo ranking	9 (November 2001)
Lowest Elo ranking	75 (November 1965)
Home colours Away colours
First international
New Zealand 3 - 1 Australia  (Dunedin, New Zealand; 17 June 1922)
Biggest win
Australia 31 – 0 American Samoa  (Coffs Harbour, Australia; 11 April 2001) (World Record for international matches)
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

The Australia 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 Tournaments).

Australia is a four-time Oceania Football Confederation champion and has been represented at two World Cup finals tournaments, in 1974 and 2006. The team is currently ranked 16th by FIFA making it the highest FIFA ranked team in Asia. Australia topped their group for for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, whilst being one of the first nations to qualify for the tournament.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early World Cup campaigns 1.2 USA 1994 qualifying campaign 1.3 France 1998 qualifying campaign 1.4 Korea/Japan 2002 qualifying campaign 1.5 Outside qualification campaigns 1.6 Germany 2006 qualifying campaign 1.7 Acceptance into the AFC 1.8 Preparation for Germany 2006 1.9 Germany 2006 1.10 Asian Cup 2007 1.11 South Africa 2010 qualifying campaign 1.12 Asian Cup 2011 qualification 1.13 Player drain to other countries 2 Home stadium 3 Results 3.1 All-time results 3.2 Results by year 4 Tournament records 4.1 World Cup 4.2 Confederations Cup 4.3 Oceania Nations Cup 4.4 Asian Cup 5 Coaches 5.1 Top 5 Coaches by Win Record 6 Players 6.1 Current squad 6.2 Recent call-ups 6.3 Previous squads 6.4 Players with most appearances 6.5 Players with most goals 6.6 Captains 7 Records 7.1 Most goals in a match 7.2 Largest win 8 Sponsors 9 References 10 External links

[edit] History

This article or section may be slanted towards recent events. Please try to keep recent events in historical perspective. (June 2008)

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.

[edit] Early World Cup campaigns

The Australian national team first played at the World Cup finals in West Germany in 1974^[1]. 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^[2]. 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. Australia won this match, through a Jimmy Mackay goal, scored off 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 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.

[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.

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.

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.

One respected football (soccer) broadcaster and former Socceroos captain (Johnny Warren), 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 FIFA 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. 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.

[edit] Preparation for Germany 2006

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

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.^[3].

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,^[4] 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." ^[5] 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^[6] 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,^[7] 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." ^[7] 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^[8].

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 ^[9]. 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. ^[10]

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",^[11] 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') after Croatian defender Stjepan Tomas handballed near the Croatian goal. Niko Kovac gave Croatia a 2-1 lead after halftime before Australia equalised again through Harry Kewell (79') in a moment described by SBS broadcast commentator Simon Hill as "well, it just had to be Harry". Kewell appeared to be offside for the goal, in a match riddled with errors.^[12] The referee Graham Poll dismissed calls for a penalty in the 5th minute when Croatia's Josip Šimunić literally wrestled striker Mark Viduka to the ground near goal. Despite penalising Croatia for Stjepan Tomas' handball in the 39th minute, he failed to penalise Tomas for exactly the same deed in the 74th minute, when Australia were trying to equalise again. Towards the end of the match, Poll blew the final whistle at the moment that John Aloisi scored what would have been a winning goal, and then blew the final whistle again. And finally, in a most extraordinary error, Poll presented Simunic with three yellow cards before sending him off after the final whistle. ^[13] 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". ^[14] 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^[15] 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 for a two-footed tackle on Mark Bresciano. Otherwise, six yellow cards were issued in total. Almost three minutes into stoppage time, with the score still at 0-0 and Australia being pushed into their own half, a controversial penalty was awarded to Italy when Fabio Grosso fell 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. Further analysis of the incident in slow motion clearly shows that Fabio Grosso moves his foot into Neill, and still had time to get around him. Italian coach Marcello Lippi denied that Grosso had dived, describing the incident as "a clear foul".^[16] Australia became the team to go out of a World Cup with the last kick of the ball (in regular time). The decision for the penalty is still argued with between Australian and Italian supporters, with an increasing grudge happening in Australia between the two sets of fans.

[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 equaliser 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 and Josh Kennedy with Brett Emerton scoring a brace for the home side. 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 remained top of the group with 10 points after 4 games following a 0-0 draw away against Japan. The Socceroos were on the brink of qualifying after a convincing 2-0 win over Uzbekistan on April 1 in Sydney. After a lacklustre first half, the Socceroos scored two goals with a Josh Kennedy header in the 66th minute and a Harry Kewell penalty in the 73rd minute after Richard Garcia was taken down in the penalty box. Australia then secured their place in South Africa after holding Qatar 0-0 at Doha on 5th June. Australia's qualification was already assured before the final two games, both home fixtures. In Sydney on Wednesday 10th June, goals to Mile Sterjovski and David Carney gave Australia a 2-0 victory over Bahrain. Australia's final qualification game ended with a 2-1 victory over Japan, Australia coming back from a goal in the 40th minute by Japan's Marcus Tulio Tanaka with Tim Cahill's equalising header in the 59th minute, and his winning goal 17 minutes later off a Nicky Carle corner. This victory left Australia top of Group A ahead of Japan by 5 clear points.

[edit] Asian Cup 2011 qualification

The Socceroos were drawn in Group B for the Asian Cup 2011 qualifying stage along with Oman, Kuwait and Indonesia. The top two teams from the group will progress to the finals in Qatar.

Australia drew 0-0 away to Indonesia on 28 January 2009 and then suffered a surprise 0-1 home defeat against lower ranked Kuwait on 5 March 2009.^[17] As a result of these poor initial performances by a team full of players from the A-league with none of the regular overseas based players, Pim Verbeek refused to rule out calling in European reinforcements when Australia’s Asian Cup qualifying continues against Oman on November 14, a FIFA-sanctioned date.

[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:

• Joey Didulica - Croatia
• Anthony Šerić - Croatia
• Josip Šimunić - Croatia
• Tony Dorigo - England
• Saša Ognenovski - Macedonia
• Saša Ilić - Serbia
• Avraam Papadopoulos - Greece.

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:

• 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.
• Bradden Inman - Scotland under-19. Currently playing in the reserves at Newcastle United, has represented Scotland at U19 level.
• Daniel Georgievski - Macedonia u19's and 21's. Currently signed with NK Dinamo Zagreb with at least two other Australians (also out on loan), but is loaned out to NK Medimurje.
• Aleks Vrteski - Along with Georgievski, he has recently played with the Macedonia u21's. He has also represented Australia at u17 and u20 level. Is currently playing for FK Pobeda, but has only played the odd game in over one season.

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.^[18]
• Ki Sung-Yong - Korea Republic. Born in South Korea, raised in Australia.
• Emmanuel Muscat - Malta. Muscat is Australian born but with Maltese heritage. His first appearance for Malta was a friendly against Czech Republic in 2009.
• John Hutchinson - Malta. Hutchinson is Australian born but with Maltese heritage. His first appearance for Malta was a friendly against Czech Republic in 2009.

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] Home stadium

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

A full list of stadiums that are regularly used for Australian games or have them planned include-

ANZ Stadium - Sydney - Capacity- 83,500 Sydney Football Stadium - Sydney - Capacity- 45,000 Melbourne Cricket Ground - Melbourne - Capacity- 100,000 Etihad Stadium - Melbourne - Capacity- 55,000 Suncorp Stadium - Brisbane - Capacity- 53,000 Canberra Stadium - Canberra - Capacity- 25,000 Adelaide Oval - Adelaide - Capacity- 25,000 Subiaco Oval - Perth - Capacity- 43,000

[edit] Results

[edit] All-time results

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 List of Australia national football team results for results of all games.

[edit] Results by year

Click on a year for more details about fixtures played during that year.

Year	Games	Wins	Draws	Losses
2005	12	7	1	4
2006	13	6	4	3
2007	10	4	2	4
2008	13	8	3	2
2009	10	3	3	1
2010	2

[edit] Tournament records

[edit] World Cup

FIFA World Cup Record Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA 1930 Did Not Participate - - - - - - - 1934 - - - - - - - 1938 - - - - - - - 1950 - - - - - - - 1954 - - - - - - - 1958 - - - - - - - 1962 - - - - - - - 1966 Did Not Qualify - - - - - - - 1970 - - - - - - - 1974 Round 1 14 3 0 1 2 0 5 1978 Did Not Qualify - - - - - - - 1982 - - - - - - - 1986 - - - - - - - 1990 - - - - - - - 1994 - - - - - - - 1998 - - - - - - - 2002 - - - - - - - 2006 Round of 16 16 4 1 1 2 5 6 2010 Qualified - - - - - - - Total 3/18 7 1 2 4 5 11

FIFA World Cup History Year Round Opponent Result 1974 Round 1  East Germany 0 – 2 Round 1  West Germany 0 – 3 Round 1  Chile 0 – 0 2006 Round 1  Japan 3 – 1 Round 1  Brazil 0 – 2 Round 1  Croatia 2 – 2 Round 2  Italy 0 – 1

[edit] Confederations Cup

Year	Result	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1992	Did Not Participate	–	–	–	–	–	–
1995		–	–	–	–	–	–
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

Australia left OFC at the end of 2005.

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

Australia joined AFC in 2006.

Year	Result	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
2007	Quarter-finals	4	1	1	2	7	5
2011	Qualification in progress	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total		4	1	1	2	7	5

[edit] Coaches

As of June 18, 2009.

Name	Period	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	Win %	Achievements
Tiko Jelisavcic	1965	6	3	0	3	50%
Jozef Vengloš	1965 - 1967	7	4	1	2	57%
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 (caretaker)	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 -	20	11	6	3	55%

[edit] Top 5 Coaches by Win Record

As of June 18, 2009.

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	Frank Farina	1999 - 2005	59%	1.91
4	Guus Hiddink	2005 - 2006	58%	1.92
5	Joe Vlatsis	1967 - 1969	57%	2.00
Cur.	Pim Verbeek	2007 -	55%	1.95

[edit] Players

[edit] Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers against Qatar, Bahrain and Japan over the course of June.

Caps and goals as of June 17, 2009.

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Mark Schwarzer October 6, 1972 (1972-10-06) (age 36) 68 0 Fulham 12 GK Michael Petković July 16, 1976 (1976-07-16) (age 33) 6 0 Sivasspor GK Brad Jones March 19, 1982 (1982-03-19) (age 27) 1 0 Middlesbrough 2 DF Lucas Neill (c) March 9, 1978 (1978-03-09) (age 31) 50 0 Free Agent 3 DF Shane Stefanutto January 12, 1980 (1980-01-12) (age 29) 2 0 Lyn Oslo 6 DF Matthew Špiranović June 27, 1988 (1988-06-27) (age 21) 2 0 Nuremberg 14 DF Rhys Williams July 14, 1988 (1988-07-14) (age 21) 1 0 Middlesbrough 15 DF Adrian Madaschi July 11, 1982 (1982-07-11) (age 27) 4 2 Portosummaga 18 DF Jade North August 20, 1982 (1982-08-20) (age 26) 26 0 Incheon United DF Mark Milligan August 4, 1985 (1985-08-04) (age 23) 7 0 Shanghai Shenhua DF David Carney November 30, 1983 (1983-11-30) (age 25) 19 2 Sheffield United DF Scott Chipperfield December 30, 1975 (1975-12-30) (age 33) 61 12 Basel DF Chris Coyne December 20, 1978 (1978-12-20) (age 30) 7 0 Perth Glory DF Luke Wilkshire October 2, 1981 (1981-10-02) (age 27) 34 0 Dynamo Moscow 4 MF Tim Cahill December 6, 1979 (1979-12-06) (age 29) 33 16 Everton 5 MF Jason Čulina August 5, 1980 (1980-08-05) (age 28) 41 1 Gold Coast United 8 MF Jacob Burns April 21, 1978 (1978-04-21) (age 31) 10 0 Perth Glory 10 MF Dario Vidošić April 8, 1987 (1987-04-08) (age 22) 1 0 Nuremberg 11 MF Nick Carle November 23, 1981 (1981-11-23) (age 27) 9 0 Crystal Palace 13 MF Vince Grella October 5, 1979 (1979-10-05) (age 29) 40 0 Blackburn Rovers 16 MF Mile Sterjovski May 27, 1979 (1979-05-27) (age 30) 41 8 Perth Glory MF Mile Jedinak August 3, 1984 (1984-08-03) (age 24) 5 0 Gençlerbirliği MF Harry Kewell September 22, 1978 (1978-09-22) (age 30) 41 13 Galatasaray MF Richard Garcia September 4, 1981 (1981-09-04) (age 27) 5 0 Hull City MF Mark Bresciano February 11, 1980 (1980-02-11) (age 29) 49 11 Palermo MF Carl Valeri April 14, 1984 (1984-04-14) (age 25) 17 0 Grosseto 7 FW Bruce Djite March 25, 1987 (1987-03-25) (age 22) 7 0 Gençlerbirliği 9 FW Joshua Kennedy August 20, 1982 (1982-08-20) (age 26) 14 6 Nagoya Grampus 17 FW Scott McDonald August 21, 1983 (1983-08-21) (age 25) 13 0 Celtic FW Brett Holman March 27, 1984 (1984-03-27) (age 25) 25 1 AZ

[edit] Recent call-ups

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

Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up GK Adam Federici January 31, 1985 (1985-01-31) (age 24) 0 0 Reading v. Uzbekistan, April 1, 2009 (World Cup qualifier) GK Eugene Galeković June 12, 1981 (1981-06-12) (age 28) 2 0 Adelaide United v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) GK Danny Vuković February 27, 1985 (1985-02-27) (age 24) 0 0 Central Coast Mariners v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) GK Michael Theoklitos February 11, 1981 (1981-02-11) (age 28) 0 0 Norwich City v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) GK Ante Čović June 13, 1975 (1975-06-13) (age 34) 2 0 Elfsborg v. Qatar, October 15, 2008 (World Cup qualifier) DF Michael Beauchamp March 8, 1981 (1981-03-08) (age 28) 19 1 AaB v. Uzbekistan, April 1, 2009 (World Cup qualifier) DF Craig Moore December 12, 1975 (1975-12-12) (age 33) 43 3 Brisbane Roar v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) DF Robert Cornthwaite October 24, 1985 (1985-10-24) (age 23) 1 0 Adelaide United v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) DF Nikolai Topor-Stanley February 11, 1985 (1985-02-11) (age 24) 3 0 Newcastle Jets v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) DF Rodrigo Vargas October 20, 1978 (1978-10-20) (age 30) 2 0 Melbourne Victory v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) DF Shannon Cole August 4, 1985 (1985-08-04) (age 23) 0 0 Sydney FC v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) DF Scott Jamieson October 13, 1988 (1988-10-13) (age 20) 1 0 Adelaide United v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) DF Dean Heffernan May 19, 1980 (1980-05-19) (age 29) 1 0 Central Coast Mariners v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) DF Daniel Mullen October 26, 1989 (1989-10-26) (age 19) 1 0 Adelaide United v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) DF Alex Wilkinson August 13, 1984 (1984-08-13) (age 24) 0 0 Central Coast Mariners v. Qatar, October 15, 2008 (World Cup qualifier) MF Billy Celeski July 14, 1985 (1985-07-14) (age 24) 1 0 Melbourne Victory v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) MF Matt McKay January 11, 1983 (1983-01-11) (age 26) 3 0 Changchun Yatai v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) MF Paul Reid July 6, 1979 (1979-07-06) (age 30) 2 0 Adelaide United v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) MF Tarek Elrich January 1, 1987 (1987-01-01) (age 22) 0 0 Newcastle Jets v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) MF Tom Pondeljak January 8, 1976 (1976-01-08) (age 33) 6 0 Melbourne Victory v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) MF Matt Thompson August 18, 1982 (1982-08-18) (age 26) 2 0 Newcastle Jets v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) MF Michael Zullo September 11, 1988 (1988-09-11) (age 20) 2 0 Brisbane Roar v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) MF Mitch Nichols May 1, 1989 (1989-05-01) (age 20) 1 0 Brisbane Roar v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) MF Ben Kantarovski January 20, 1992 (1992-01-20) (age 17) 0 0 Newcastle Jets v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) MF Fabian Barbiero May 2, 1984 (1984-05-02) (age 25) 1 0 Adelaide United v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) MF Brett Emerton February 22, 1979 (1979-02-22) (age 30) 69 16 Blackburn Rovers v. Bahrain, November 19, 2008 (World Cup qualifier) MF Stuart Musialik March 29, 1985 (1985-03-29) (age 24) 0 0 Sydney FC v. Qatar, October 15, 2008 (World Cup qualifier) FW Archie Thompson October 23, 1978 (1978-10-23) (age 30) 32 21 Melbourne Victory v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) FW Daniel Allsopp August 10, 1978 (1978-08-10) (age 30) 3 0 Melbourne Victory v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) FW Matt Simon January 22, 1986 (1986-01-22) (age 23) 2 0 Central Coast Mariners v. Kuwait, March 5, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier) FW Dylan Macallister May 17, 1982 (1982-05-17) (age 27) 0 0 Central Coast Mariners v. Indonesia, January 28, 2009 (Asian Cup qualifier)

[edit] Previous squads

• 2007 AFC Asian Cup Squads - Australia
• 2006 FIFA World Cup squads - Australia
• 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup squads - Australia
• 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup squads - Australia
• 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup squads - Australia
• 1974 FIFA World Cup squads - Australia

[edit] Players with most appearances

As of June 17, 2009.

Players in bold are still available for selection.

#	Name	Caps	Goals	First cap	Latest cap
1	Alex Tobin	87	2	March 9, 1988	November 6, 1998
2	Paul Wade	84	10	August 3, 1986	November 1, 1996
3	Tony Vidmar	76	3	February 6, 1991	October 7, 2006
4	Brett Emerton	69	16	February 7, 1998	October 15, 2008
5	Mark Schwarzer	68	0	July 31, 1993	June 17, 2009
6	Peter Wilson	64	3	November 4, 1970	June 13, 1979
7	Attila Abonyi	61	25	June 4, 1967	November 25, 1977
	Scott Chipperfield	61	12	September 25, 1998	June 6, 2009
9	Stan Lazaridis	60	0	April 15, 1993	October 7, 2006
	John Kosmina	60	25	August 18, 1976	September 22, 1988
11	Milan Ivanović	59	0	January 30, 1991	February 15, 1998

[edit] Players with most goals

As of June 17, 2009.

Players in bold are still available for selection.

#	Name	Goals	Caps	Avg.	First cap	Latest cap
1	Damian Mori	29	45	0.64	September 4, 1992	July 14, 2002
2	John Aloisi	27	55	0.49	March 12, 1997	February 6, 2008
3	John Kosmina	25	60	0.42	August 18, 1976	September 22, 1988
	Attila Abonyi	25	61	0.41	June 4, 1967	November 25, 1977
5	Archie Thompson	21	32	0.66	February 28, 2001	March 5, 2009
6	David Zdrilic	20	30	0.67	January 18, 1997	March 29, 2005
7	Graham Arnold	19	56	0.34	October 23, 1985	November 29, 1997
8	Ray Baartz	18	48	0.38	May 28, 1967	April 27, 1974
9	Gary Cole	17	19	0.89	June 11, 1978	October 14, 1982
	Aurelio Vidmar	17	44	0.39	January 30, 1991	June 3, 2001
11	George Smith	16	6	2.67	June 5, 1933	July 18, 1936
	Tim Cahill	16	33	0.48	March 30, 2004	June 17, 2009
	Brett Emerton	16	69	0.23	February 7, 1998	October 15, 2008

[edit] Captains

As of June 17, 2009.

Players in bold are still available for selection.

#	Name	Captaincies	Caps	Goals	First captaincy	Latest captaincy
1	Peter Wilson	60	64	3	November 11, 1971	June 13, 1979
2	Paul Wade	46	84	10	August 25, 1990	November 1, 1996
3	Alex Tobin	30	87	2	February 11, 1995	November 6, 1998
	Charlie Yankos	30	49	7	October 25, 1986	April 16, 1989
5	John Kosmina	25	60	25	October 6, 1982	March 9, 1988
6	Johnny Warren	24	42	6	November 5, 1967	December 1, 1970
	Paul Okon	24	28	0	October 9, 1996	September 7, 2003
8	Mark Viduka	17	43	11	August 3, 2005	July 21, 2007
9	Lucas Neill	16	50	0	October 7, 2006	June 17, 2009
10	Craig Moore	12	43	3	February 18, 2004	March 5, 2009

[edit] Records

Australia currently hold the world record for the largest win and the most goals scored by a player in an international match. Both records were recorded during the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification match against American Samoa on April 11, 2001. Australia won 31–0 with Archie Thompson scoring 13 goals and David Zdrilic scoring 8 goals. Both players broke the previous record of 7 goals jointly held by another Australian, Gary Cole and Iranian Karim Bagheri. Two days before the 31–0 win, Australia broke the record for largest win with a 22–0 win over Tonga. Both wins surpassed the previous record held by Kuwait who beat Bhutan 20–0 on February 14, 2000.

[edit] Most goals in a match

Record in bold is the current world record.

#	Goals	Player	Score	Opponent	Competition	Date
1	13	Archie Thompson	31–0	American Samoa	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification	April 11, 2001
2	8	David Zdrillic	31–0	American Samoa	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification	April 11, 2001
3	7	Gary Cole	10–0	Fiji	1982 FIFA World Cup qualification	August 14, 1981
4	6	John Aloisi	22–0	Tonga	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification	April 9, 2001
	6	Frank Parsons	08–1	New Zealand	Friendly	September 11, 1948
5	5	John Aloisi	13–0	Solomon Islands	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification	June 11, 1997
	5	Damian Mori	13–0	Solomon Islands	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification	June 11, 1997
	5	George Smith	10–0	New Zealand	Friendly	July 11, 1936

[edit] Largest win

Record in bold is the current world record.

#	Score	Opponent	Competition	Date
1	31–0	American Samoa	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification	April 11, 2001
2	22–0	Tonga	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification	April 9, 2001
3	17–0	Cook Islands	2000 OFC Nations Cup	June 19, 2000
4	16–0	Cook Islands	1998 OFC Nations Cup	September 28, 1998
5	13–0	Solomon Islands	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification	June 11, 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 qualified 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] References

[edit] External links

• FFA official website
• Archive of results 1922-
• The Australian National Men's Football Team: Caps and Captains
• RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers
• RSSSF archive of coaches 1922-1998
• the SBS World Game site
• Aussies Abroad
• The Green & Gold Army Site
• The Southern Cross

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)A	Succeeded by 2008 New Zealand
Preceded by Japan	AFC Men's Team of the Year 2006	Succeeded by Iraq

^A  Australia is no longer part of the Oceania Football Confederation and was not defending the Oceanian title.

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v • d • e Australia squad – 1974 FIFA World Cup 1 Reilly • 2 Utjesenovic • 3 Wilson • 4 Schäfer • 5 Curran • 6 Richards • 7 Rooney • 8 Mackay • 9 Warren • 10 Manuel • 11 Abonyi • 12 Alston • 13 Ollerton • 14 Tolson • 15 Williams • 16 Rudic • 17 Harding • 18 Watkiss • 19 Campbell • 20 Buljevic • 21 Milisavljevic • 22 Maher • Coach: Rašić

v • d • e Australia squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Schwarzer • 2 Neill • 3 Moore • 4 Cahill • 5 Čulina • 6 Popovic • 7 Emerton • 8 Skoko • 9 Viduka • 10 Kewell • 11 Lazaridis • 12 Čović • 13 Grella • 14 Chipperfield • 15 Aloisi • 16 Beauchamp • 17 Thompson • 18 Kalac • 19 Kennedy • 20 Wilkshire • 21 Sterjovski • 22 Milligan • 23 Bresciano • Coach: Hiddink

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