Group D contenders
Germany 
Australia
Serbia
Ghana

Route to the finals
Australia had to wait an agonising 32 years before reaching their second World Cup finals in 2006. With qualification to South Africa 2010 they have now managed back-to-back successful campaigns.

For the first time, the Socceroos attempted qualification through the Asian zone rather than Oceania but it did not hamper their progress. Despite losses to Iraq and China in the Third Round of qualifying, Australia topped their group along with Qatar and progressed to the Fourth Round as one of the favourites.

They lived up to their billing and were unbeaten in their eight games; winning six and drawing two. They finished five points ahead of Japan in second place and were one of the very first teams to qualify for the finals.

Manager
In 1974 Yugoslav Rale Rasic led the Socceroos to Germany, while Dutchman Guus Hiddink took the Antipodeans there in 2006. In Pim Verbeek the Netherland’s have provided Australia’s third foreign manager to lead them at a World Cup.

Verbeek was Assistant Manager with South Korea at the 2002 World Cup, serving under compatriot Hiddink, and held the same role under Dick Advocaat at Germany ’06.

Appointed Manager of Australia in 2007, Verbeek has come under some media scrutiny for the style of play which he has instilled on the Socceroos but having reached the finals he can now argue that it is the results that matter. 

Player watch
The main core of Australia’s 2010 World Cup squad were also involved in the 2006 edition. As such, this is an experienced group who know each other well and should have the potential to cause upsets, just as they did four years ago.

Everton’s Tim Cahill was at the heart of the 2006 squad, proving a constant threat from midfield and scoring two goals against Japan in the Group Stage.

He has played an integral role in getting his country to South Africa and was joint top scorer in the preliminaries with four goals. His presence is sure to be a massive influence for the Socceroos once again.

Competition History
First appearance: 1974
No. of appearances (inc 2010): 3
Best result: Round of 16 (2006)
Matches against England: 6

Squad

Goalkeepers
1	Mark Schwarzer	Fulham, ENG
12	Adam Federici	Reading, ENG
18	Brad Jones*	Middlesbrough, ENG
Defenders
2	Lucas Neill	Galatasaray, TUR
3	Craig Moore	Unattached
6	Michael Beauchamp	Al Jazira, UAE
8	Luke Wilkshire	Dinamo Moskva, RUS
11	Scott Chipperfield	FC Basel, SUI
20	Mark Milligan	JEF United Chiba, JPN
Midfielders
4	Tim Cahill	Everton, ENG
5	Jason Culina	Gold Coast United, AUS
7	Brett Emerton	Blackburn Rovers, ENG
10	Harry Kewell	Galatasaray, TUR
13	Vince Grella	Blackburn Rovers, ENG
14	Brett Holman	AZ, NED
15	Mile Jedinak	Antalyaspor, TUR
16	Carl Valeri	Sassuolo, ITA
19	Richard Garcia	Hull City, ENG
21	David Carney	FC Twente, NED
22	Dario Vidosic	MSV Duisburg, GER
23	Mark Bresciano	Palermo, ITA
Forwards
9	Josh Kennedy	Nagoya Grampus Eight, JPN
17	Nikita Rukavytsya	Roeselare, BEL

* Replaced by Eugene Galekovic (Adelaide United, AUS)