The Wizards of Oz

But while Aloisi ended it, it was the brilliance of Schwarzer that handed him the chance to be a hero.

The Middlesbrough keeper's shoot-out stop from Dario Rodriguez from the visitors' first spot-kick merely setting the scene for a magnificent one-handed parry from Marcelo Zalayeta's well-struck effort after Socceroo captain Mark Viduka had given Uruguay a glimmer of hope with a poor miss.

It was an appropriately dramatic ending to a game which had everything bar the sending-off that seemed inevitable as both sides played at the limit in a bid to clinch a World Cup place.

It was almost inevitable that the pre-match war of words would spill over onto the pitch and a fiery opening saw several tackles which the surprisingly lenient Spanish referee, Luis Medina Cantalejo, chose not to punish.

But for all it was the home side that needed goals after their first-leg loss in Montevideo, it was Uruguay who started with the greater offensive threat and who - through Alvaro Recoba - should have killed Australian hopes just 19 minutes in.

A constant menace with his trickery and vicious free-kicks, Recoba had the ticket for Germany in his hands as he broke clear only to inexplicably smash a shot wide of Mark Schwarzer's goal.

The Inter player suggested in the pre-match hyperbole that his nation had a "divine right" to go to the World Cup, but perhaps it was divine retribution which took the ball wide and also blinded the referee when Tony Popovic blatantly elbowed Recoba just before the half hour.

The incident proved the turning point for Guus Hiddink's side - Recoba fading into a bit-part participant while Hiddink hauled Popovic off just a couple of minutes later to make way for Harry Kewell.

So often disappointing for club and country, Kewell was for once inspired - his threat pinning back the lively Gustavo Varela and impressive full-back Diego Lugano down the Australian left and providing the home side with extra guile, previously only afforded by the isolated Viduka.

And three minutes after stepping onto the pitch, Kewell played a key - if fortuitous role in his side's goal, seizing onto a clever Viduka backheel in the box only to overrun it - the ball rolling invitingly into the path of Bresciano who reacted smartly to lunge and hammer a shot high past Fabian Carini.

While Australia dominated possession, Uruguay still threatened and again should have left their hosts needing to score twice just five minutes after the interval, Richard Morales somehow contriving to head over the bar as he met Recoba's corner with the home side on walkabout.

But then Uruguay coach Jorge Fossati seemed to lose the blood-and-bluster of his pre-match pronouncements, bringing Recoba off for the pragmatic Marcelo Zalayeta as the South Americans looked to take the game to penalties.

It was a strange decision given Recoba's ability with a dead ball, but almost paid off as Uruguay found a second wind in extra-time, Varela zipping a shot just wide before Zalayeta found space just two minutes from time but failed to get enough power behind his header to trouble Schwarzer.

"We thought it was going to happen. We've been dreaming of this for 32 years," said Aloisi as the stadium in Sydney rocked in jubilation.

"You couldn't ask for a better finish, with 83,000 people here to watch us and 20 million people in Australia following us. I just can't believe it."

The triumph was also another highlight on Hiddink's CV, the PSV Eindhoven boss guiding Australia to only their second World Cup having worked just a handful of weeks with the squad.

"We only had a few weeks together, it wasn't very long," said the Dutchman, who led South Korea to a shock semi-final appearance in 2002.

"But this is a great bunch of guys, they really wanted this and worked hard for it."