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AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TEAM HISTORYAsia callingMeanwhile, Australia transferred from the Oceania tothe Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on January 1,2006. The move to Asia was a vital step in thedevelopment of the code in Australia at all levels,especially by virtue of playing in more meaningfulqualifying series at all national team levels.The men’s senior team's first test in Asia wasqualification for the 2007 AFC Asian Cup. Qualifyingfor the region's premier tournament proved to be arelatively easy affair. However the cup itself was not.Australia only scraped into the quarter-final stage,where Japan knocked the Socceroos out on penalties.The appointment of highly-credentialed nationalteam coach Pim Verbeek in late 2007 signaledAustralia’s serious desire to secure a successive FIFAWorld Cup berth in the 2010 tournament.A challenging first-stage qualifying phase in a groupwith Qatar, Iraq and China had its hurdles, Australiafinishing on top (over Qatar) only on goal difference.Grouped with Japan, Uzbekistan, Bahrain and Qatar inits final qualifying phase, the tough contests continuedas the prize of 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification gotcloser and closer. Australia ended up comfortablyfinishing in the top two of the group to qualify directlyfor South Africa, a 2-1 defeat over closest group rivalsJapan in the final qualifier signifying the dominance ofthe Australians throughout the World Cup campaign.After the highs of the 2006 World Cup, and therelative ease of qualification, expectations were highfor Australia leading into the 2010 World Cup.2010 FIFA WORLD CUPSouth AfricaGERL0-4GHAD1-1SERW2-1Michael Beauchamp•Mark Bresciano • •Tim Cahill • David Carney • •Scott Chipperfield • ◦ ◦Jason Culina • • •Brett Emerton • • •Richard Garcia • ◦Vince Grella•Brett Holman ◦ Mile Jedinak◦Josh Kennedy ◦ •Harry Kewell•Craig Moore • •Lucas Neill (c) • • •Nikita Rukavytsya ◦ ◦Mark Schwarzer • • •Carl Valeri • • •Luke Wilkshire • • •• started ◦ substitute # goalsAustralia was thoroughly outclassed in its opening game4-0 by Germany. Despite finishing the group stage withthe same number of points as it did four years earlier,with a draw against Ghana and win over Serbia, Australiafailed to progress; the demoralising thrashing by theGermans seemed to hang over the heads of the Aussiesfor the rest of their 2010 World Cup campaign.Meanwhile Australia had had a bumpy ride on the wayto qualifying for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. Despitefinishing first the in qualifying group; only three pointsseparated the top three teams in the group, whichreminded all that qualifying for tournaments throughAsia can never be taken for granted.Australia comfortably made it through the group stageof the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar. The ensuing quarter-finalagainst reigning Asian champions Iraq was a classic, andonly decided with a Harry Kewell goal in the dyingminutes of extra time. The Socceroos then really turnedit on in a 6-0 defeat of Uzbekistan in the semi final,which was followed by another 120 minute marathon inthe final. Ultimately it was Japan who won the Asian Cupfinal match 1-0, meaning Australia will have to wait until2015 to possibly take out its first AFC Asian Cup title.And expectations will certainly be high for theAustralians, who will host the tournament in 2015.Target: BrazilAustralia cruised through its first stage of qualifying forthe 2014 World Cup, a 1-0 loss away to eventual secondplacedOman the only stumbling block along the way.The second stage was a different story however, theAustralians starting with just two points from its openingthree games. Only the top two of the five-team groupwould get automatic 2014 World Cup qualification. Theseries featured two gripping 1-1 games against Japan.The first in Brisbane saw Mark Milligan sent off early inthe second half and Japan opening the scoring tenminutes later, before Luke Wilkshire converted a penaltysoon after. The Japan leg played out similarly for thehome and away teams, Tommy Oar making it 1-0 withten minutes remaining only for Japan to make no mistakefrom a penalty awarded in the dying moments. With twomatches to go in the group stage, Australia were thirdand in real danger of missing out on direct qualification.However, wins over Jordan (4-0) and Iraq (1-0) ultimatelygave Australia a clear buffer for second spot.When the 2014 World Cup groups were drawn in December2013 – just weeks after the appointment of new coach AngePostecoglou – Australia (59th) had a FIFA ranking well behindgroup opponents Spain (1st), Netherlands (9th) and Chile(15th). It will clearly be an uphill battle, but the underdog tagis one Australia has relished and revelled in the past. Therewill be nothing to lose for the Socceroos at Brazil 2014.OFFICIAL MEDIA GUIDE OF AUSTRALIA AT THE 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP BRAZIL 81