John Aloisi remembers the sequence like it was yesterday.
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The deep breath at the top of his mark, the deliberate approach, the perfect left-footed strike and the ball flying past Uruguay's diving gloveman Fabian Carini into the net.
Then pandemonium for more than 83,000 fans packed into Sydney's Olympic Stadium.
Two decades on, Aloisi still beams when asked to recall one of the most iconic moments in Australian sporting history.
"As soon as I struck it I felt it was going in," Aloisi tells AAP.
"The night before, I practised five penalties down that side and all I was saying to myself as I was taking it was just do what I did the night before and just focus on the striking of the ball.
"I struck it really well. I saw it going in but until the net moved I wasn't 100 per cent sure that it was in."
Some thirty-one years of heartbreak ended with that single swing at the ball, after two crucial saves in the penalty shootout by heroic Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.
And the celebration that followed was every bit as iconic as a shirtless Aloisi sped off with a trail of Socceroos teammates in hot pursuit.
"The day before the game I was that confident that I might be the one that scored the winning goal that I asked the team manager where our family would be sitting," Aloisi said.
"I ran towards them, so that was planned, but taking off the top wasn't planned."
The celebration in the sheds wasn't quite so raucous.
That is, until Hollywood star John Travolta joined in - by virtue of his role as an ambassador for team sponsor Qantas.
"We were outside for so long (after the penalty shootout)," Aloisi said.
"You have to remember that most of the players had played 90 minutes in Uruguay three days earlier, 120 minutes (in Sydney) and everyone was just like dead when they got in the change room.
"So it was a little bit quiet ... until Travolta walked in. Then everyone started singing Grease."
The watershed moment on November 16, 2005, ignited a golden era. Next year's tournament in North America will mark the Socceroos' sixth consecutive World Cup finals appearance.
"It was huge and now we just expect us to make it, but it's not easy," Aloisi said.
"Now the expectation is there."
Australian soccer followers who have been around long enough still remember the heartache of near misses following Australia's first World Cup finals appearance in 1974.
The Socceroos repeatedly fell at the last hurdle, beaten by Diego Maradona's Argentina in 1993, Iran's late fightback in 1997 and Uruguay in 2001, four years before Aloisi and Co turned the tables on La Celeste.
Uruguay's talisman in 2005, then-Inter Milan attacker Alvaro Recoba, famously declared the South American powerhouse and two-time winners had a "divine right" to qualify for the World Cup as they prepared for the two-legged playoff against Australia.
But the Socceroos had a talented line-up - dubbed the "Golden Generation" on these shores - and a not-so-secret weapon in Dutch master coach Guus Hiddink.
"Massive impact," Aloisi said of Hiddink, who replaced Frank Farina less than four months before the playoff.
"We had a good side but he made us believe that we had a side that could compete with anyone and not fear anyone."
The Socceroos packed that fearless attitude on the plane to Germany, where Tim Cahill and Aloisi scored decisive goals in the 3-1 comeback win over Japan in Kaiserslautern.
It was Australia's first World Cup finals win, after a draw and two defeats in a goalless 1974 campaign.
"The dream as a kid was to play in a World Cup," Aloisi said.
"To finally get there and play as a big part of the side that won their first game at a World Cup was unbelievable.
"And again, I was lucky enough as a striker to score a goal. It was definitely the highlight of my career."
Harry Kewell's late equaliser against Croatia earnt a 2-2 draw that sent Australia into the knockout rounds, where they faced global superpower Italy.
The Socceroos had a numerical advantage, after Marco Materazzi was sent off, as the round-of-16 match headed towards extra-time, but Fabio Grosso's theatrical tumble over Lucas Neill's outstretched leg changed the course of the match.
Francesco Totti beat Schwarzer from the spot in stoppage time and Australia's dream was over, while Italy went on to lift the trophy after France talisman Zinedine Zidane's infamous headbutt on Materazzi in the final.
Aloisi admits the controversial Grosso penalty decision still rankles, almost 20 years on.
"I never say that I regret anything but that's one moment you wish you could take back," Aloisi said.
"Italy were down to 10 men, we were going to go into extra time and we felt that we had a side good enough to beat them.
"Just to miss out like that was heartbreaking."
The Socceroos have since moved into the Asian confederation, lifted the continental title and have not missed another World Cup finals.
But the Australian game hasn't fully cashed in on repeated qualification; at least not on the domestic front.
"I would say at an A-League level not yet but at international level - the Socceroos, Matildas - yes," Aloisi said.
"We're showing that we can compete with everyone around the world and the best in the world."
Now an accomplished coach at club level, Aloisi, who remains in a holding pattern after Western United's expulsion from the A-League, is buoyant about Australia's prospects under his former national teammate Tony Popovic at next year's World Cup finals.
"I think they'll get through the group stage. Poppa's got them really well organised," Aloisi said.
"They're very hard to break down and you've got some good young talent coming through.
"I think that we'll make a good impact at the World Cup."