Penalty practice saves England's bacon

England 1 - 1 Australia (World Cup 2nd Rnd)

(England won 5-3 on penalties)

England did just enough to see off Australia's challenge in the Second Round match at Loftus.

Legendary midfielder Frank Lampard gave England the lead with a powerful freekick in the 30th minute. Australia's equaliser came through Tim Cahill as he seized on Michael Carrick's mistake to score a powerful penalty. In the shootout that followed it was left to legendary midfielder Steven Gerrard to keep a cool head and smash home the winning penalty for England.

Attendance: 49598

Well the boys did us proud. 2 wins against top 10 teams and goals in every game. Couldn't have asked for more than that I guess. Once the game went to penalties it seemed inevitable that England were going to come away with the win. We just don't have the quality and experience for such a high pressure penalty shootout. Now it's time to cheer on England. See if they can take it all the way.

Australia in smash-and-grab win

Brazil 0 - 1 Australia (World Cup Grp E)

Australia beat Brazil in a brilliant and well-deserved 1 - 0 victory after they worked hard throughout the match.

Tireless midfielder Tim Cahill got Australia off to a flyer by scoring a good header from just inside the six-yard box on 4 minutes. Then followed controversy as Australia were denied claims by striker Scott McDonald for a penalty.

Things went from bad to worse for Brazil as Brazil captain Lúcio earned himself an early bath for ungentlemanly conduct on 73 minutes.

Brazil could have had a harder time of it but their opponents seemed keen to waste possession by shooting from long range.

Attendance: 45553

First corner of the game had Bresciano pick out Cahill in the box to score. Next followed 85 minutes of prayers as we held off the Brazilian talent. Seemed an unlikely scenario after the Ivory Coast pasting, but we're out of the pool stage for the first time ever!

Australia stun Czech Republic

Czech Republic 0 - 1 Australia (World Cup Grp E)

Australia upset the odds with a surprise victory over Czech Republic.

Australia finally took the lead when midfielder Mark Bresciano scored a placed shot on 53 minutes. Czech Republic also saw their 79th minute strike questionably chalked off.

Czech Republic may well look back on the number of shots they took from long range and rue their decisions, as they often proved wasteful.

Attendance: 47592

We got hammered against Ivory coast in our first outing, but good followup by Bresciano off a Cahill drive at goal netted the only score against the Czechs. Ivory coast also went on to beat Brazil, so it's turning out to be a tough group.

Next up, Brazil. Another win and we're through.