Australia find silver lining in exit

Australia bid a tearful farewell to the World Cup, still reeling from the controversy over their 1-0 defeat to Italy but consoled that they have nothing to fear from the game's traditional powers.

The disputed last-minute penalty which cost them their chance of a quarter-final against Ukraine left a bitter and undeserving footnote on a campaign that had begun with modest expectations but was suddenly starting to gain momentum.

No-one gave the Socceroos any chance of winning the tournament but their performances to reach the second round showed they were not out of their depth and with a bit of luck might have gone even further.

Perhaps ominously, their roller-coaster ride also aroused the imagination and interest of a country that has won virtually every major international sporting trophy on offer but shown little real interest in soccer, until now.

"We came here as a lowly ranked team, lucky to make it in the eyes of the world, but the world has taken notice, big time, of what Australia has done," Football Federation of Australia (FFA) chief executive John O'Neill said.

IMPROVED RESULTS

Australia's performances in Germany 2006 easily outshone their efforts at their only other World Cup appearance, in 1974, when they failed to score a single goal and were eliminated in the first round.

The 2006 class were possibly not as technically gifted as some of their big-name opponents but their never-say-die approach and the tactical genius of their Dutch coach Guus Hiddink combined to make them one of the more entertaining teams at the tournament.

They fired three goals in the last eight minutes to come from behind and win their opening match against Japan 3-1, then gave as good as they got against world champions Brazil only to concede two second half goals on the counter-attack in a 2-0 defeat.

They came from behind twice to earn a 2-2 draw with Croatia in their final group match to reach the second round for the first time then looked to have a 10-man Italy on the ropes seconds away from extra time when the three-times world champions were handed a dodgy penalty.

"It is a sour way to finish ... but there are far more positives than negatives," said Australian captain Mark Viduka.

"I think we've got a lot of new followers because of the way we played. I think everyone now knows we can match it with the big boys."

Australia's next assignment is the 2007 Asian Cup, which they have entered for the first time after quitting Oceania in search of more meaningful games.