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Socceroos squad finalised
10/05/2006: There were few suprises in Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink 23-man squad for next month's World Cup in Germany.
The Socceroos begin their World Cup campaign against Japan in Kaiserslautern on Monday June 12 before further matches against Brazil and Croatia.
"Everyone thinks we have an unknown - Japan - but Japan have played in the last few World Cups and they have experience with European-based players so they are a tough team to beat," Hiddink said.
"Brazil, everyone knows that will be a special game. The Croatian game has a history of itself because of a lot of connections between Australian-Croatians or the other way around so that will be a very hectic clash at the end."
Midfielder Tim Cahill was named in the squad despite major worries over a knee injury.
Michael Beauchamp replaced the experienced defender Tony Vidmar who pulled out of the tournament on health grounds
"We are happy to be there but I know that the team is not settling down and just participating.
"This team is so eager to get a surprise to get into the second round."
"We had to think - Graham Arnold, Johan Neeskens and me - about two or three positions who were open still until the last date," Hiddink said.
"In the end we managed to bring in some young players as well for the number 20-23 positions."
Goalkeepers: Ante Covic (Hammarby), Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough), Zeljko Kalac (AC Milan).
Defenders: Mark Milligan (Sydney FC), Michael Beauchamp (Central Coast), Craig Moore (Newcastle), Lucas Neill (Blackburn), Tony Popovic (Crystal Palace),
Midfield: Mile Sterjovski (Basel), Marco Bresciano (Parma), Tim Cahill (Everton), Scott Chipperfield (Basel), Jason Culina (PSV Eindhoven), Brett Emerton (Blackburn Rovers), Vince Grella (Parma), Josip Skoko (Wigan), Luke Wilkshire (Bristol City), Stan Lazaridis.
Forwards: Joshua Kennedy (Dynamo Dresden), Harry Kewell (Liverpool), Archie Thompson (PSV Eindhoven), Mark Viduka (Middlesbrough), John Aloisi (Alaves).
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