Written by Thomas Esamie. For more details see credits.
| Australia starts the World Cup qualifying year with a game against traditional sporting rivals South Africa. This was a Friendly match. | ||||
| Played : February 9 | Venue : ABSA Stadium, Durban | |||
| South Africa Calvin Marlin, Cyril Nzama, Aaron Mokoena, Nasief Morrism, Quinton Fortune, Benedict Vilakazi (Tyren Arendse 90), Shaun Bartlett (Sandile Ndlovu 64), Steven Pienaar (Siyabonga Nomvethe 79), Thabiso Rammile, Benedict McCarthy (Sibusiso Zuma 56), Delron Buckley (Gift Leremi 46) Goal : McCarthy 12 |
1 | - | 1 | Australia Mark Schwarzer, Craig Moore, Lucas Neill, Tony Vidmar, Tony Popovic, Brett Emerton (Archie Thompson 66), Danny Tiatto (Scott Chipperfield 57), Vincent Grella (Luke Wilkshire 70), Jason Culina (Mile Sterjovski 57), Marco Bresciano (John McKain 74), Paul Agostino (Max Vieri 66) Goal : Chipperfield 71 |
| Referee : Lin Kee Chong Linesmen : Attendance : Coaches : Frank Farina (Australia), Stuart Baxter (South Africa) | ||||
| Squad Listing |
Match Report by Thomas Esamie | |||
| According to a press release "The ASA revealed that along with picking up the costs of flying the Iraqis to Australia a generous appearance fee would also be paid which would go to the development of football in Iraq." Which is a nice way to pay them back for them knocking us out of the 2004 Olympics. Just wait until they find out they get paid in Australian Dollars.. :-) Ha! This was a Friendly match. | ||||
| Played : March 26 | Venue : Telstra (Olympic) Stadium, Sydney | |||
| Australia Mark Schwarzer, Lucas Neill, Craig Moore, Tony Popovic, Stan Lazaridis (Tony Vidmar 46), Josip Skoko, Marco Bresciano (Jon McKain 63), Tim Cahill (Jason Culina 71), Brett Emerton (Ahmad Elrich 71), Scott Chipperfield (Mile Sterjovski 63), John Aloisi Goals : Bresciano 22, Elrich 72 |
2 | - | 1 | Iraq Sarmad Rasheed, Haiedar Hassan, Nashat Akram, Hawar Mohamed, Yasser Raad, Haidar Abdul Ameer, Mahdi Kareem (Safwan Hamad Mohammed 86), Wisam Zaki, Mohammad Nasir (Ali Jabir 79), Haitham Kadhum (Moaid Salim 63), Ahmad Assad Goal : Nasir 11 |
| Referee : Peter O'Leary (New Zealand) Linesmen : Nathan Gibson, Peter Vrtkovski (Australia) Attendance : 30258 Coaches : Frank Farina (Australia), Akram Salman (Iraq) | ||||
| Squad Listing |
Match Report by Thomas Esamie | |||
| On February 4 the Football Federation Australia, as it is known as of this year, announced this match as a fundraising effort to support victims of the December Tsunami. The Asian Football Federation nominated Indonesia as an appropriate opponent when the FFA approached them about this match. This was a Friendly match. | ||||
| Played : March 29 | Venue : Subiaco Oval, Perth | |||
| Australia Zeljko Kalac, Tony Vidmar, Craig Moore (Tony Popovic 46), Ljubo Milicevic, Stan Lazaridis (Lucas Neill 60), Jon McKain, Jason Culina (Jade North 76), Luke Wilkshire (Simon Colosimo 60), Mile Sterjovski, Brett Emerton (Ahmad Elrich 46), Ante Milicic (David Zdrilic 76) Goals : Milicic 24, 57, Zdrilic 85 |
3 | - | 0 | Indonesia Hendro Kartiko, Ismed Sofyan (Christian Worabai 82), Ortizan Salossa (Mahyadi Panggabean 62), Mohammad Mauly Lessy (Zainal Arifin Yandri 89), Ilham Jaya Kesuma (Charis Yulianto 14), Ponaryo Astaman, Agus Indra Kurniawan (Jack Komboy 82), Firman Utina (Jimmy Surpano 62), Syamsul Bachri, Hamka Hamzah, Firmansyah |
| Referee : Hirofumi Yamanishi (Japan) Linesmen : Matthew Cream, Jim Ouliaris (Australia) Attendance : 13719 Coaches : Frank Farina (Australia), Peter Withe (Indonesia) | ||||
| Squad Listing |
Match Report by Thomas Esamie | |||
| Just ahead of the Confederations Cup Australia had a hit out against their neighbours but very far from home. This was a Friendly match. | ||||
| Played : June 9 | Venue : Craven Cottage, London, England | |||
| Australia Mark Schwarzer (Zeljko Kalac 46), Kevin Muscat, Craig Moore (Ljubo Milicevic 78), Lucas Neill, Tony Popovic, Brett Emerton (Ahmad Elrich 75), Tim Cahill, Jon McKain, Josip Skoko (Simon Colosimo 63), Mile Sterjovski (Archie Thompson 63), Scott Chipperfield, Goal : Colosimo 87 |
1 | - | 0 | New Zealand Mark Paston, Che Bunce, Michael Wilson (Jeremy Christie 78), Steven Old, Danny Hay, Brett Fisher, David Mulligan, Tim Brown, Noah Nickey, Vaughan Coveny (Shane Smeltz 89), Adrian Webster (Leo Bertos 87) |
| Referee : Mike Dean (England) Linesmen : Peter Kirkup, Mike Tingey (England) Attendance : 9023 Coaches : Frank Farina (Australia), Ricky Herbert (New Zealand) | ||||
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Match Report by Thomas Esamie Match Report by Sam Crozier Match Report by Bonita Mersiades Match Report by Alan Clark | ||||
| Australia began the tournament against the hosts having come off a late win against the Kiwis and knowing they'd subsequently face the team who had put Brazil to the sword 3-1 only a week (or so) prior. This was a Confederations Cup match. | ||||
| Played : June 15 | Venue : Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany | |||
| Germany Oliver Kahn, Arne Friedrich, Robert Huth, Bastian Schweinsteiger (Fabian Ernst 83), Torsten Frings, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Per Mertesacker, Lukas Podolski, Bernd Schneider (Sebastian Deisler 76), Kevin Kuranyi (Gerald Asamoah 68), Michael Ballack Goals : Kuranyi 17, Mertesacker 23, Ballack 60pk, Podolski 88 |
4 | - | 3 | Australia Mark Schwarzer, Kevin Muscat, Craig Moore, Tony Popovic (Jon McKain 57), Lucas Neill, Ljubo Milicevic, Josip Skoko, Tim Cahill (Jason Culina 74), Brett Emerton, Scott Chipperfield (Archie Thompson 82), John Aloisi Goals : Skoko 21, Aloisi 30, 90 |
| Referee : Carlos Amarilla (Paraguay) Linesmen : Amelio Andino, Manuel Bernal (Paraguay) Attendance : 46466 Coaches : Frank Farina (Australia), Juergen Klinsmann (Germany) | ||||
| Squad Lists |
Match Report by Thomas Esamie Match Report by FIFA.com | |||
| Australia needed something from this game to have any hope of progressing. Alas they gave away too much of a lead by the time they got going. This was a Confederations Cup match. | ||||
| Played : June 18 | Venue : Frankenstadion, Nuremburg, Germany | |||
| Australia Mark Schwarzer, Kevin Muscat (Mark Vidoka 46), Craig Moore, Tony Vidmar, Lucas Neill, Ljubo Milicevic (Jon McKain 56), Josip Skoko (Jason Culina 74), Tim Cahill, Brett Emerton, Scott Chipperfield, John Aloisi Goals : Aloisi 61pk, 70 |
2 | - | 4 | Argentina German Lux, Walter Samuel, Juan Sorin, Javier Zanetti, Gabriel Heinze, Juan Riquelme, Javier Saviola (Pablo Aimar 73), Fabricio Coloccini (Gonzalo Rodriguez 86), Lucas Bernardi, Mario Santana (Esteban Cambiasso 66), Luciano Figueroa Goals : Figueroa 12, 53, 89, Riquelme 31pk |
| Referee : Shamsul Maidin (Singapore) Linesmen : Prachya Permpanich (Thailand), Bengech Allaberdyev (Turkmenistan) Attendance : 25618 Coaches : Frank Farina (Australia), Jose Pekerman (Argentina) | ||||
| Squad Lists |
Match Report by FIFA.com | |||
| Having performed valiantly in the previous two games Australia might have been forgiven for losing Tunisia seem a more beatable opponent. Sad then that a poor preformance and two goals saw Australia bow out without a point to their name. Tunisia had infact scored 2 more disallowed for offside and scoring directly from an indirect free kick. This was a Confederations Cup match. | ||||
| Played : June 21 | Venue : Zentralstadion, Leipzig, Germany | |||
| Australia Michael Petkovic, Craig Moore, Lucas Neill, Tony Vidmar, Josip Skoko (Tim Cahill 61), Mark Viduka (Archie Thompson 46), Scott Chipperfield (Ljubo Milicevic 38), Simon Colosimo, John Aloisi, Jon McKain, Jason Culina |
0 | - | 2 | Tunisia Hamdi Kasraoui, Karim Saidi, Hatem Trabelsi, Mehdi Nafti, Haykel Guemamdia, Francileudo Dos Santos Silva (Ziad Jaziri 89), Jawhar Mnari, Hamed Namouchi, Adel Chadli (Issam Jomaa 55), Chaouki Ben Saada (Kaies Ghodhbane 69), Anis Ayari Goals : Dos Santos 26, 70 |
| Referee : Carlos Chandia (Chile) Linesmen : Cristian Julio, Mario Vargas (Chile) Attendance : 23952 Coaches : Frank Farina (Australia), Roger Lemerre (Tunisia) | ||||
| Squad Lists | ||||
| Both coaches are in charge of their first full international match for these respective countries. Really I'd be tempted to credit a hat-trick to Aruwafu, but let's just blame the slippery conditions due to rain. This was a World Cup Qualifier match. | ||||
| Played : September 3 | Venue : Sydney Football Stadium | |||
| Australia Mark Schwarzer, Lucas Neill, Tony Popovic (Marco Bresciano 57), Tony Vidmar, Brett Emerton, Josip Skoko (Vincent Grella 72), Mark Viduka, Tim Cahill, Jason Culina, John Aloisi (Archie Thompson 61), Scott Chipperfield Goals : Culina 21, Viduka 36, 43, Cahill 57, Chipperfield 64, Thompson 69, Emerton 89 |
7 | - | 0 | Solomon Islands Francis Aruwafu, Leslie Leo, Mahlon Houkarawa, Nelson Sale (sent off 54), Alick Maemae (Stanley Waita 46), Kidstone Billy, Batrum Suri (George Suri 43), George Lui, Gideon Omokirio, Henry Fa'arodo, Francis Wasi (Richard Anisua 59) |
| Referee : Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh (Malaysia) Linesmen : Mohammed Saeed (Maldives), Nasaruddin Ishak (Malaysia) Attendance : 14715 Coaches : Guus Hiddink (Australia), Ayrton Andrioli (Solomon Islands) | ||||
| Squad Listing |
Match Report by David Marshall Match Report by Chris Dunkerley | |||
| In theory this is the last ever match Australia will play as against an OFC side as a member. We might miss it, or we might be grateful. This was a World Cup Qualifier match. | ||||
| Played : September 7 | Venue : Lawson Tama Stadium, Honiara | |||
| Solomon Islands Felix Ray Jnr, George Suri, Gideon Omokirio, Lesley Leo (Richard Anisua), Mahlon Houkarawa, Henry Fa'arodo, George Lui (sent off 49), Francis Wasi, Stanley Waita (Jack Samani), Commins Menapi, Batram Suri (Abraham Iniga) Goal : Fa'arodo 49pk |
1 | - | 2 | Australia Zeljko Kalac, Lucas Neill, Brett Emerton, Mark Viduka (Ahmad Elrich 45), Tim Cahill (Luke Wilkshire 45), Scott Chipperfield (Stan Lazaridis 71), Vince Grella, Archie Thompson, Jon McKain, Jason Culina, Mark Bresciano Goals : Thompson 17, Emerton 59 |
| Referee : Shamsul Maidin (Singapore) Linesmen : Fathi Al Arabati (Jordan), Eisa Ghuloum (United Arab Emirates) Attendance : 15000 Coaches : Guus Hiddink (Australia), Ayrton Andrioli (Solomon Islands) | ||||
| Squad Listing |
Match Report by Peter Rowney Match Report by Guy Hand | |||
| The more things change the more they stay the same. Ahead of the most crucial games Australia tends to play we have one friendly against a 2nd tier side while our opponents have been sharpened by a demanding series of qualifiers. This was a Friendly match. | ||||
| Played : October 9 | Venue : Craven Cottage, London, England | |||
| Australia Zeljko Kalac, Lucas Neill, Tony Vidmar (Josip Skoko 52), Scott Chipperfield, Michael Thwaite, Brett Emerton (Vince Grella 70), Marco Bresciano (Tim Cahill 79), Luke Wilkshire (Ahmad Elrich 79), Mark Viduka (John Aloisi 56), Archie Thompson (Joel Griffiths 70), Jason Culina Goals : Bresciano 3, Thompson 29, Viduka 48, Aloisi 58, Griffiths 85 |
5 | - | 0 | Jamaica Shawn Sawyers, Damian Stewart (Fabian Dawkins 60), Tyrone Marshall, Claude Davis (Jermaine Taylor 46), Nicholy Finlayson (Desmond Breckenridge 52), Jermaine Johnson (Damani Ralph 49), Ricardo Gardner, Omar Daley, Robert Scarlett (Garfield Reid 52), Ricardo Fuller (Jason Morrison 61), Luton Shelton |
| Referee : Mike Riley (England) Linesmen : Peter Kirkup, Mike Tingey (England) Attendance : 6570 Coaches : Guus Hiddink (Australia), Wendall Downswell (Jamaica) | ||||
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Match Report by Thomas Esamie | ||||
| This was a World Cup Qualifier match. | ||||
| Played : November 12 | Venue : Estadio Centenario, Montevideo | |||
| Uruguay Fabian Carini, Diego Lopez (Guillermo Rodriguez 63), Paolo Montero, Dario Rodriguez, Carlos Diogo, Pablo Garcia, Diego Perez, Alvaro Recoba, Diego Forlan (Dario Silva 18), Marcelo Zalayeta (Fabian Estoyanof 63), Richard Morales Goal : Rodriguez 35 |
1 | - | 0 | Australia Mark Schwarzer, Lucas Neill, Scott Chipperfield, Tony Vidmar, Tony Popovic, Brett Emerton, Mark Viduka (John Aloisi 80), Harry Kewell, Vince Grella, Archie Thompson (Marco Bresciano 52), Jason Culina |
| Referee : Claus Bo Larson (Denmark) Linesmen : Bill Rene Hansen, Anders Norrestrand (Denmark) Attendance : 55000 Coaches : Guus Hiddink (Australia), Jorge Fossati (Uruguay) | ||||
| Squad Listing |
Match Report by Thomas Esamie Match Report by Football Australia Match Musings by Various | |||
| Well, you gotta admit it was a helluva long time coming but thanks to those listed below Australia are now going to be one of the 32 nations represented in Germany next year. This was THE World Cup Qualifier match. | ||||
| Played : November 16 | Venue : Sydney Olympic Stadium | |||
| Australia Mark Schwarzer, Lucas Neill, Scott Chipperfield, Tim Cahill, Tony Vidmar, Tony Popovic (Harry Kewell 31), Brett Emerton (Josip Skoko 110), Mark Viduka, Vince Grella, Jason Culina, Marco Bresciano (John Aloisi 96) Goal : Bresciano 35 Penalties : Kewell (first), Neill, Vidmar, Viduka (miss), Aloisi |
1 aet |
- | 0 aet |
Uruguay Fabian Carini, Diego Lugano, Dario Rodriguez, Paolo Montero (Marcelo Sosa 81), Perez Pablo Garcia, Guillermo Rodriguez, Gustavo Varela, Carlos Diogo, Alvaro Recoba (Marcelo Zalayeta 73), Mario Regueiro (Fabian Estoyanoff 97), Richard Morales Penalties : D Rodriguez (saved), Varela, Estoyanoff, Zalayeta (saved) |
| Referee : Luis Medina Cantalejo (Spain) Linesmen : Pedro Medina Hernandez, Victoriano Giraldez Carrasco (Spain) Attendance : 82698 Coaches : Guus Hiddink (Australia), Jorge Fossati (Uruguay) | ||||
| Squad Listing |
Match Report by FIFA Match Report by Joseph Sapienza Match Report by Alan Clark Match Report by Thomas Esamie Post-match musings by Various | |||