Bold, brash Australia proved they belong at the peak of Asian football and gave a huge boost to the sport in their country after overcoming the region's best to win the Asian Cup.
The Socceroos are newcomers in the Asian confederation after joining in 2006 but they have quickly reached the summit by winning the continent's showcase tournament at just their third attempt.
Dozens of other teams have fallen short after decades of trying, but Australia has now become the first to unite the Asian national and Champions League club titles.
Asia's women were also crowned Asian champions in 2010, but the country's success has not been uniformly welcomed, with reported rumblings of discontent among some regional rivals.
Such reports prompted loud boos when Asian Football Confederation officials appeared at Saturday's final, but the Socceroos did their talking on their pitch.
And after a successful tournament attended by nearly 650,000 fans, Australia's gripping 2-1 extra-time win over South Korea was a fitting finale.
"It's a massive moment for Australian football," said the team's talismanic striker Tim Cahill as he celebrated their historic achievement. "This is one of the biggest moments in sport for Australia."
The nation's expectations were somewhat modest at the start after the Socceroos managed just one victory in 11 games last year, and on a chilly night in Melbourne, Kuwait's Hussain Fadhel rocked the hosts when he headed the tournament's first goal.
But Australia hit back in dazzling style with Cahill, Massimo Luongo, Mile Jedinak and James Troisi all scoring in a 4-1 win to get the team off to a flying start.
It was a long way from Swindon to Sydney for Luongo, who was voted player of the tournament after a string of high-octane performances, capped by a wonder goal in Saturday's final against South Korea.
Holders Japan gave Palestine a sobering introduction to the Asian Cup, thrashing them 4-0 in Canberra, while fellow heavyweights South Korea and Iran also started with wins.
United Arab Emirates set tongues wagging when they came from behind to beat Qatar 4-1, their extravagent playmaker Omar Abdulrahman catching the eye with his silky skills in midfield.
- Break-out tournament -
It quickly became a break-out tournament for the mop-haired star, who never found the net but helped sharp-shooter Ali Mabkhout finish as top scorer in the UAE's run to third place.
China have long under-achieved at the Asian Cup but the twice runners-up enjoyed a storming start -- aided by a helpful ballboy who told goalkeeper Wang Dalei the right way to dive to save a penalty.
The Chinese won all three group games but they were undone in the quarter-finals by Cahill's magical bicycle kick, followed by a trademark header, in a 2-0 Australia win.
Ray Wilkins and his Jordan side had a turbulent campaign which hit a low when striker Ahmed Hayel vomited and lost consciousness during a doping test, forcing him to miss the next game.
It was the cue for third-choice striker Hamza Aldaradreh to smash four past Palestine -- evoking rather fanciful memories for Wilkins of England's Geoff Hurst at the 1966 World Cup.
Referees were in the spotlight and organisers fined Japan's Keisuke Honda and Iran coach Carlos Queiroz for outbursts before subsequently banning questions about officiating in press conferences.
The issue reached boiling point when controversial Australian referee Ben Williams sent off Iran's Mehrdad Pooladi for simulation in a fiery quarter-final which they lost to arch-rivals Iraq on penalties.
Iran launched a last-ditch attempt to stay in the tournament when they protested in vain that Iraq's Alaa Abdulzehra had failed a drugs test last year and was ineligible.
Defending champions Japan came unstuck in the quarter-finals when they were stunned by UAE, with superstars Honda and Shinji Kagawa both missing in the penalty shootout.
Iraq's 2007 final-winner Younis Mahmoud starred with two goals -- and a nerveless "panenka" penalty against Iran -- before the Lions of Mesopotamia were tamed by South Korea in the semi-finals.
Australia scored twice in the first 15 minutes as they ended UAE's fairytale run to reach their second straight final.
In the championship decider, Australia were headed for a 1-0 win until Son Heung-Min's last-gasp equaliser forced extra time, but substitute James Troisi fired the winner on 105 minutes to spark wild celebrations at Stadium Australia.
Source: AFP
