Australia's agonisingly long wait for a spot in the World Cup ended after 32 years on November 17, 2005, when substitute John Aloisi converted from the spot in their shootout against Uruguay for a thrilling 4-2 win in the second leg final playoff at Sydney’s Telstra Stadium.

The Australians had reached the finals once before in 1974, and coincidentally the World Cup was in Germany then, but failed to impress.

This time round, their initial campaign was bereft of surprises as they finished the group stage with four wins and a draw in five games. They thrashed Solomon Islands in the Oceania playoffs 9-1 to set up the meeting with Uruguay.

The first leg was surrendered 0-1 by the Socceroos but Marco Bresciano equalised in the return leg to force extra-time and later the shootout in which goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer stopped almost everything that came his way. Two saves to deny Dario Rodriguez and Marcelo Zalayeta saw Australia making the grade after falling by the wayside in four previous playoffs - 1985, 1993, 1997 and 2001.

With former Korea coach Guus Hiddink at the helm, the Socceroos are bristling with confidence and ready to impress as an Asian team in Germany. Hiddink will have at his disposal a talented pool of players who mostly ply their trade in the English Premier League. They are, besides Schwarzer, Lucas Neill, Tim Cahill, Mark Viduka, Brett Emerton, captain Craig Moore and Harry Kewell.