The Socceroos' World Cup adventure has started today as the provisional 28-man squad flew out of Melbourne for South Africa.
The team were officially farewelled at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport ahead of their flight to South Africa for next month's World Cup.
After a ceremony at a Qantas maintenance hangar, which included speeches from Australian coach Pim Verbeek and captain Lucas Neill, the team boarded a chartered jet on Wednesday morning.
They were due to fly out at 1pm (AEST), bound for Johannesburg, where the team plays warm-up matches against Denmark on June 1 and the USA on June 5, ahead of their opening World Cup match against Germany in Durban on June 13.
Neill told the assembled audience that the team would head to South Africa with high hopes.
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"We are going to go out and do you proud and let's hope we can have another rollercoaster of excitement like the last journey was," Neill said.
Australia made it through the group stage in Germany in 2006, before being eliminated by eventual champions Italy in the second round.
Experienced goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, another veteran of the 2006 campaign - the first time Australia had qualified in 32 years - said the excitement was just as great the second time.
"If you don't get excited about days like today, you'll never get excited about football or in life in general," he said.
"It's the pinnacle of anyone's career, obviously having the fortunate position of being in the last World Cup and having that experience of what it was like, to knowing now what lies ahead to a degree ... I'm very very excited about it."
Coach, Pim Verbeek, selected his squad yesterday, cutting striker Scott McDonald, midfielder Nick Carle and defender Jade North ahead of a training camp at altitude in Johannesburg.
The squad will be further cut to 23 before the tournament begins next month.
The Socceroos will play friendlies against Denmark on June 1, and the United States on June 5 before their World Cup opener against Germany on June 14 (Australian time).
The team played their first warm-up match of the campaign in Melbourne on Monday night, a scrappy 2-1 win over New Zealand.
