The Socceroos take on Wales in an international friendly early Thursday morning, and while the FIFA rankings are a mismatch with Australia some 89 spots above the Welsh team, Wales are a team full of talent, likely to field English Premier League stars Aaron Ramsey, Gareth Bale and Craig Bellamy.
The match between the sides is the first international between the sides
Wales snapped a five game losing streak with a win over Northern Ireland, while the Socceroos have beaten Germany and New Zealand, with a draw with Serbia in their last three games.
Wales lost four games in Euro 2012 to be all but eliminated from qualifying, with sights now on the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
A younger side had been selected by manager Gary Speed, who will be desperate to triumph in front of a home crowd at Wembley.
Socceroos coach Holger Osieck has also named a relatively inexperienced line-up, with just Lucas Neill, Tim Cahill, Luke Wilkshire and Mark Schwarzer considered old hands, with Brett Holman unfit, and Harry Kewell missing out due to fitness concerns.
Neill is expected to have his hands full with Ramsey, Bale and Bellamy, and will partner an unfamiliar back-line, likely to include Matthew Spiranovic and Michael Zullo at left-back.
Scott McDonald will get a chance to break his 24 game run without scoring, while Tim Cahill returns after missing the June friendlies against New Zealand and Serbia.
Kick-off: 7:45pm local time (4.45am AEST)
Teams: Wales (4-5-1): Hennessey; Gunter, D. Collins, Gabbidon, N. Taylor; Bellamy, Ramsey, D. Vaughan, Collison, Bale; Earnshaw.
Socceroos (4-4-1-1): Schwarzer; Wilkshire, Spiranovic, Neill, Zullo; Emerton, Jedinak, Valeri, McKay; Cahill; McDonald.
Victer
Guest
Good call guys!
Davidde Corran
Roar Guru
A couple other results for you: Italy 2 - 1 Spain Germany 3 - 2 Brazil Japan 3 - 0 South Korea Malta 2 - 1 Central African Republic Thanks for your company tonight and keep an eye on The Roar for more analysis of tonight's game shortly.
Davidde Corran
Roar Guru
Full time and a 2-1 to Australia. Socceroos can be quite happy with that. A strong performance and a decent result to boot.
Davidde Corran
Roar Guru
Into injury time and Jedinak on for McDonald.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Schwarzer nearly wrong footed again by a Spira header, twice in space of three min, on this occasion,Spira took the full force of a Bale shot, very quick reflexes to get head to it
The Cattery
Roar Guru
88th Wales 1 Aust 2
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Darcy Blake's first international goal Hope for the Welsh with 5 min to go
Davidde Corran
Roar Guru
Goal 2-1. Wales' Darcy Blake gets on the end of a corner kick from Gareth Bale that's allowed to bounce in the area. Meanwhile Zullo comes off for his FC Utrecht team-mate Adam Sarota. McKay to LB then.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Wales get one back from a set piece, allowed to bounce, headed in, 83rd min Wales 1 Aust 2
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Euro qualifiers Nth Ireland 3 Faroe Islands 0
Davidde Corran
Roar Guru
70th minute - Goalscorer Cahill comes off for James Troisi.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Troisi on for Timmy 70th Wales 0 - Aust 2
Davidde Corran
Roar Guru
Can you even call that kind of turn out a crowd?!
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Three ex-Roar players on the field at the moment
The Cattery
Roar Guru
The crowd has been muted
Davidde Corran
Roar Guru
So who's rooting for a Scott McDonald goal now to wrap things up?
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Matty Mc did well to pinchthe ball then, went for a run down the left, corner won, good interplay between McKay and Kruse, another corner won, cleared
Davidde Corran
Roar Guru
So like David Carney, Zullo is susceptible to the occasional misstep in defence. The difference between the two however is Zullo has the speed to make up for it and the youth to learn from it.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
63rd min Wales 0 Aust 2 Australia in complete control, and we are now starting to understand why Wales is 90 spots behind Australia on the FIFA rankings, Thailand might even provide sterner opposition
Davidde Corran
Roar Guru
After a 62 minute long "test" Robert Earnshaw comes off to be replaced from the bench.