16 November 2005. The mere mention of the date brings instant recognition for any football fan in Australia. Most can remember exactly where they were, when 32 years of torment were released in torrents of raw emotion as John Aloisi’s penalty hit the back of the net.
Yet while that moment is seared into the public consciousness, accompanied by Craig Foster’s guttural yell of “Johnny Warren”, the backstory has largely faded into the mists of time. But the work done behind the scenes was a major reason why Australia qualified that day, by the barest of margins.
