User:Albinomonkey/2005-06 in Australian football (soccer)

The 2005–06 season was the xth season of competitive football (soccer) in Australia, and a landmark year for many aspects of the game in Australia. The season marked the beginning of a new national club competition – the A-League – after the demise of the National Soccer League in 2004, whilst the men's national team qualified for the finals of the 2006 FIFA World Cup following a 32-year gap. Football Federation Australia also left the Oceania Football Confederation and officially became a member of the Asian Football Confederation on January 1, 2006.

Overview

 * Comp winners
 * NT:
 * group stage confed cup
 * qualified for WC
 * round of 16 in WC
 * first AFC matches

Men's senior national team
2005–06 was a significant season for the Australian men's national team. After failing to score a single point during their 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup campaign, Australia appointed Dutchman Guus Hiddink as head coach and successfully qualified for the finals of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Competing at the event for just the second time in history and following a 32-year absence, Australia reached the final 16 before losing to eventual champions Italy. The national team also played its first competitive match as part of the Asian Football Confederation during the qualification stage for the 2007 Asian Cup.

2005 FIFA Confederations Cup
Australia qualified for the 2005 Confederations Cup after winning the 2004 OFC Nations Cup, and competed under manager Frank Farina. Placed in Group A with 9th-ranked Argentina, 19th-ranked Germany and 21st-ranked Tunisia, Australia scored five goals in their first two group matches but lost all three games to bow out of the tournament at the group stage. Eventually ranked last of all eight participants, Australia's results led to the end of Farina's tenure as Australian manager.

Warmup match: Australia vs New Zealand
Prior to the Confederations Cup, Australia organised a friendly match against neighbours New Zealand at Craven Cottage in London. Australia featured a large number of players who would be in the squad for the tournament, including giving goalkeepers Mark Schwarzer and Zeljko Kalac 45 minutes each. The match was deadlocked until the 87th minute when Simon Colosimo scored the winning goal for the Socceroos.

Australia vs Germany
Australia's first match at the Confederations Cup drew them against hosts Germany on the opening day of the tournament. In an attack-based contest, Germany went ahead twice in the first half of football with Australia equalising both times. Michael Ballack scored from a penalty in the 60th minute and Lukas Podolski put Germany up 4-2 in the 88th minute before John Aloisi scored his second goal in the final minute to end the match 4-3. Australian defender Tony Popovic suffered an ankle injury early in the second half which ended his involvement in the tournament.

Australia vs Argentina
With both Argentina and Germany having beaten Tunisia in earlier matches, Australia required at least a draw against Argentina in order to remain a chance of advancing to the semi-finals. Tony Vidmar replaced Tony Popovic in defence, while John Aloisi's brace in the opening group match allowed him to retain his position in the squad ahead of Mark Viduka, who returned from injury to the bench. Despite Australia creating early chances in the match, Argentina scored twice through Luciano Figueroa and Juan Román Riquelme to take a 2-0 lead into half-time. This became 3-0 shortly after the break when Figueroa scored his second, but two Aloisi goals within ten minutes gave Australia a chance of taking a point from the match. This ended, however, when Figueroa completed his hat-trick with two minutes remaining, and Australia were eliminated from the competition with one match to play.

Australia vs Tunisia
With no chance of progressing, Australia's final match gave Frank Farina the opportunity to alter the squad against an opponent considered more beatable than the previous two. Michael Petkovic replaced Mark Schwarzer in goals, whilst Simon Colosimo, Jon McKain, Jason Culina and Mark Viduka were all added to the starting line-up. Australia conceded two soft goals to Francileudo Santos and ended the tournament with zero points, and ranked in last place overall by FIFA. A week after the Confederations Cup ended, Football Federation Australia and Farina "mutally agreed to end their association", with the FFA appointing national technical manager Ron Smith as the interim head coach of the national team.

Australia vs Solomon Islands

 * Related article: 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)

After finishing first in the second round of the Oceanian qualifying series, Australia were drawn against second-place finishers the Solomon Islands in a two-legged tie to determine which nation would play-off with the fifth-placed South American team for a place in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The match in Sydney marked Guus Hiddink's first appearance as head coach of the Socceroos, and he appointed Mark Viduka as captain in the absence of injured Newcastle United defender Craig Moore. The first leg, at Aussie Stadium in Sydney, was dominated by Australia, with Viduka scoring twice and Jason Culina his first international goal to give the Socceroos an almost unassailable 7-0 lead heading to Honiara for the away leg.

Despite sending over the full squad which had contested the first leg, Australia found the second far more difficult in front of the Solomon Islands' home crowd in what was Australia's 100th international against Oceanian opposition. Australia scored first in the 17th minute through Archie Thompson, but the scores were levelled early in the second half when Perth Glory player Henry Fa'arodo converted a penalty that was retaken when the referee adjudged that Zeljko Kalac had moved off his line in saving the first attempt. Ten minutes later though, Australia sealed their place in the OFC-CONMEBOL playoff with a goal to Brett Emerton to win the tie 9-1 on aggregate.

Friendly: Australia vs Jamaica
Leading into their final qualifying tie for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, with their opponent still to be decided, Australia organised a friendly against 40th-ranked Jamaica, in London, England. Romanian-based Michael Thwaite earned his debut cap for the Australian national team, whilst Luke Wilkshire was a surprise inclusion in the midfield, behind attacking trio Mark Viduka, Archie Thompson and Jason Culina. In Australia's 500th international match since being admitted back into FIFA in 1963, Mark Bresciano struck first in just the second minute, with further goals to Thompson, Viduka, John Aloisi and Joel Griffiths making the final score 5-0.

Australia vs Uruguay

 * Related article: 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (play-off CONMEBOL-OFC)

2006 FIFA World Cup

 * Related articles: 2006 FIFA World Cup squads, 2006 FIFA World Cup - Group F, 2006 FIFA World Cup knockout stage

Australia vs Japan

 * Related article: 2006 FIFA World Cup controversies

Australia vs Brazil

 * Related article: 2006 FIFA World Cup controversies

Australia vs Croatia

 * ''Related articles: 2006 FIFA World Cup controversies, 2006 FIFA World Cup controversies

Knockout stage: Australia vs Italy

 * Related article: 2006 FIFA World Cup controversies

A-League

 * More information: A-League 2005-06