Australia All-time 23 member team

Australia 2006

 
Australia qualified for the WC Finals in 1974, but waited 22 years for their second WC Finals.  In 1997, they took a 2 goal lead against Iran before Iran came back and eliminated them in a heart-breaking World Cup qualifying continental playoff match. Then, in the 2000's, Australian players such as Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka and Tim Cahill started to star in England.  Socceroos suddenly found itself with a Golden Generation.  In 2006, they finally qualified for the first World Cup Finals since 1974.  They were eliminated by a questionable penalty call in the round of 16 against the eventual champion Italy.

If there were an All-Time World Cup, this would be the 23 players I would bring to the tournament.  The team is not an All-Star team. I tried to be as realistic as possible.   A few of the players are selected for tactical reasons at the expense of more famous players.

GK: Mark Schwarzer
He started over 500 games in the Premiership.  He was known for his seasons at Middlesbrough and Fulham.  He played in two World Cup Finals: 2006 and 2010.

 GK: Mark Bosnich
Voted as Oceania Goalkeeper of the Century.  He was known for his career with Aston Villa.   He earned himself a transfer back to Manchester United in 1999, but his career there started to fall apart.

GK Zeljko Kalac
He spent most of his career behind Bosnich and Schwarzer, but still earned 54 caps for Socceroos.  He was also the backup keeper for AC Milan as they won the Champions' League in 2006-2007.


RB:  Bob Bignall
Captain of Australia at the 1956 Olympics playing at home.

CB/RB: Lucas Neill
He earned 96 caps during Australia's Golden Generation.   He played 15 seasons in England.  He was probably remembered for the controversial penalty he gave away vs Italy at the round of 16 duirng the Germany 2006.

Lucas Neill

CB:  Joe Marston
He was the first Australian to play in the English FA Cup Final, when Preston North End reached the Final in 1954.  He played over 180 games in England and was one of the first Australians to play aboard.

CB: Craig Moore
He played over 250 games for Rangers in Scotland.  In 2012, he was voted into the Australia's All-time bet XI.  He went to Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010.

CB: Milan Ivanovic
He started his career with Red Star Belgrade before moving to Australia and became a citizen.  He was elected into Australia's team of the century.  He was voted into the Hall of Champions, the highest honor in the Football Hall of Flame in Australia.

CB: Peter Wilson 
"Big Willy" was the captain of the 1974 WC team.  He was a sweeper. He was capped 65 times and he was the captain 61 times.

LB: Tony Vidmar 
He is currently Socceroos's third highest capped player. He missed the 2006 World Cup Finals because of a medical condition. He spent 5 seasons with Rangers in Scotland.

Tony Vidmar

LB:  Alan Davidson
He was voted into the Hall of Champions, the highest honor in the Football Hall of Flame in Australia. He was voted as Australia's greatest leftback in 2012.

DM/RB: Johnny Warren
The best player award for the A-League was named after him.  He was named as Australia's all-time best XI in 2012.  He spent most of his career with St. George on the 1960's.



RM/RB: Brett Emerton
He is the third most capped player for Socceroos.  He spent his career notably with Feyenoord and Blackbrun Rovers.  He was Oceania Player of the Year in 2002.

CM: Ned Zelic
He had a successful career playing in Bundesliga.  He started his career in Germany with Borussia Dortmund.  Then, he moved to Queens Park Rangers as the club's record signing.  He failed to settle there. He later played in France and then, Germany again.

CM: Robbie Slater
He belonged to the generation right before the Golden Generation.  He played in the two important World Cup continental playoffs, in 1993 and 1998. He was voted into the Hall of Champions, the highest honor in the Football Hall of Flame in Australia.  He played in England and France.

CM: Mark Bresciano
He spent 12 seasons playing in Italy with Empoli, Parma, Palermo and Lazio.  When he joined Parma, he became the most expensive Australian player ever.  He also played in three World Cup Finals for Australia. 

LM:  Jimmy Rooney
He had a brief career in England before moving to Australia in the later 1960's. He played in the WC in 1974.  He was capped 99 times.  

AM: Tim Cahill 
He is the all-time leading scorer for Socceroos.  He played in three WC Finals.  He went to play for Millwall and Everton in England.  At Everton, he was one of their star players for 8 seasons.  

Tim Cahill

RW: Attila Abonyi

He was a member of the 1974 World Cup team.  He was also  the third leading scorer for Australia.  He was voted into the Hall of Champions, the highest honor in the Football Hall of Flame in Australia.
 

LW:  Harry Kewell

In 2012, he was voted the greatest ever Australian player.  At Leeds United, he won the PFA Young Player of the year in 1999-2000.  With Mark Viduka, the team reached the semifinal of the Champions' League in 2000-2001.  At liverpool, he won the Champions League in 2005, where he started the final match.  He became the first Australian-born player to win a Champions' League medal.
 

Harry Kewell

FW:  Frank Farina

He was a star for Socceroos in the 1980's and 1990's.  He found successes playing for Brugge in Belgium, where he won the Golden Booth and the best Foreign Player Award in 1989-1990 season.  He moved to Bari where he became the first Australian to play in the Serie A.  However, his successes in Europe was limited to his seasons in Belgium.

ST:  Ray Baartz
He joined Manchester United at the age of 17.  he retrned home after two seasons. He was named in the Greatest Australian team in 2012.


ST: Mark Viduka
He played in Croatia, Scotland and England.  In Scotland, he was the top scoring in the Scottish league and won the SPFA Player of the Season with Celtics. And then, he joined Leeds United, where the club reached the semifinal of the Champions' League.

Viduka and Kewell

Honorable Mention
Jimmy Rooney, Peter Wilson John Kosmina, Ron Lord, Charlie Yankos, Paul Okon, Alex Tobin and Aurelio Vidmar. 

Squad Explanation 

• I could not find spaces for John Kosmina, Ron Lord, Charlie Yankos, Alex Tobin and Aurelio Vidmar.  
• Craig Johnston never played for Australia. 
•  Jimmy Rooney and Peter Wilson never played the highest level in England while I dropped Paul Okon and Aurelio Vidmar, who did well in Europe at the highest level.  Both players were important figures in Australia's 1974 WC campaign and should be honored. 
• My biggest controversial selection was probably Zeljko Kalac.  Ron Lord was considered.

Starting lineup
Formation: 4-2-1-3
Schwarzer got the start because he had a much longer and steadier career than Bosnich.  Emerton started because he was more offensive than the other candidates.