Well Done, Bruces!

For the first time since 1974, Australia qualified for the World Cup. The Aussies have the burden of being the very biggest fish by far in their region (sorry, New Zealand, you know it's true) that is otherwise very very weak and, thus, does not have an automatic berth in the World Cup finals. As a result, Australia has always had to play-off against a country from another region in a two-leg format in which, quite frankly, anything can happen. Finally, the managed to pull through, on penalty kicks after tying Uruguay 1-1.

Also on this last day of qualifying, Trinidad & Tobago became the fourth CONCACAF nation to make the finals, beating Bahrain 2-1 on aggregate. In Europe, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Spain made it through to the finals.

So the field is set for Germany '06 - can't wait for the draw next month!