Club: Middlesbrough, England

Position: Goal Keeper

Middlesbrough goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer has come to be known as one of the best and most consistent shot-stoppers in the English Premiership, and his heroics in a nervy penalty shoot-out against Uruguay were key to Australia booking their spot at the finals in Germany.

The 33-year-old, born in Sydney to German parents, began his professional career at the age of 16 and four years later made his international debut against Canada. In the 1994/95 season he left Australia for Germany and has since gone on to enjoy success in England with Middlesbrough.

Schwarzer began his professional career with Marconi Stallions in Australia, where Christian Vieri was a team-mate, before he moved to Germany and Dynamo Dresden. After a season there he joined Kaiserslautern and picked up a German Cup winner's medal at the end of the 1995/96 campaign, before leaving the club in November 1996 to join English side Bradford City.

Thirteen appearances and four months later the goalkeeper moved to Middlesbrough in time to make an impressive debut in the English League Cup semi-final at Stockport County, which Middlesbrough won 2-0. A broken leg forced him out of action after only a handful of games, but on his return he quickly established himself as a commanding figure at the back.

Despite being a fiercely proud Australian, Schwarzer grew tired of playing understudy to former Aston Villa and Manchester United goalkeeper Mark Bosnich and made himself unavailable to the Socceroos between 1997 and 1999 to concentrate on his career with Middlesbrough. Eventually he was talked back in to the fold and is now the undisputed number one for the Socceroos.

He lined up for the Socceroos in their most testing qualifiers, notably the final play-off with Uruguay. After his outstanding display in the first leg in Montevideo had limited the Uruguayans to a 1-0 first-leg lead, he excelled again during the 120 minutes of play in the second leg in Sydney. After Marco Bresciano’s opportunistic strike levelled the scores, the concluding penalty shootout provided a stern test of Schwarzer’s character and nerve.

Schwarzer saved twice – from Dario Rodriguez and Marcelo Zalayeta – to help steer his side into the finals for only the second time in their history. Although later Hiddink revealed that he almost substituted Schwarzer ahead of the shoot-out in favour of spot-kick specialist Zeljko Kalac, it took nothing away from a stunning performance.