Stadium Australia has been the site for many of Australia’s most celebrated moments. Be it Josh Kennedy’s towering header to defeat Iraq and secure progression to the 2014 World Cup or Mile Jedinak’s captain’s hat-trick against Honduras in the 2018 World Cup qualification play-offs. Or, of course, John Aloisi’s famous penalty that dispatched Uruguay and ended the nation’s long, 32-year absence from football’s grandest stage;. Stadium Australia has so often proved to be Australian football’s field of dreams.

Full story published for The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/mar/24/socceroos-fail-to-secure-automatic-world-cup-qualification-with-defeat-to-japan