Australia has shocked world No.4 the Netherlands 2-1 in Eindhoven in an excellent warm-up for Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Uzbekistan.
Klass-Jan Huntelaar gave the Dutch the lead in just the fifth minute, but the game was turned on its head when keeper Maarten Stekelenburg was given his marching orders on the stroke of half-time. Harry Kewell converted the resultant penalty while Josh Kennedy produced the winner on 76 minutes, allowing the world No.39 to claim one of the biggest scalps in Australian football history.
The only surprise in Australia's starting XI was Brett Holman's inclusion in the midfield ahead of Mark Bresciano, while Carl Valeri filled in for the injured Vince Grella at the back of midfield and Chris Coyne won the nod for the second central defensive role alongside Lucas Neill. The home side decided to play Robin Van Persie, despite his injury worries, but left out Arjen Robben, who has a bruised calf.
The Dutch wasted little time obtaining a lead converting from their first opportunity of the match on five minutes. A long ball down the left opened up for Ryan Babel to run on to, he cut back into the box and delivered to Huntelaar, who struck it first time, low and to Mark Schwarzer's left with a deadly finish.
Australia responded with some good attacks on the counter, including Brett Emerton's clever cross for Jason Culina who could only head wide. Kennedy then could have done better with Neill's long ball, but only forced a corner.
Schwarzer did well to thwart Johnny Heitinga on 20 minutes with the Atletico Madrid defender put through from a quick free kick, but unable to get past the veteran Australian custodian. The home side built pressure when Van Persie went just over from a free kick and Rafa Van der Vaart did the same when well fed by Babel.
Holman should have equalised on 37 minutes when a gentle header from Kewell set him through on Stekelenburg, who managed to deflect the Australian's low shot. The resultant corner fell to Neill, who fired wide.
But the real drama for the Dutch keeper came on 44 minutes. A horrible back pass from Heitinga forced Stekelenburg into a reckless lunge on Kennedy and he brought the big Australian down. Referee Martin Atkinson pointed to the spot and then handed the keeper a red card. Kewell slotted the penalty past substitute stopper Henk Timmer and it was 1-1 at the break.
Bresciano and Mile Sterjovski replaced Kewell and Emerton at half-time as Pim Verbeek looked to save his most influential players for the Tashkent match. Van Persie departed as well, with Dirk Kuyt on as the lone front man after Huntelaar had gone off for Timmer before the break.
With both teams having more important games on their plates this week, there was no great hurry to find a winner and despite having an extra man Australia preferred the long ball. It wasn't a particularly fruitful route but a Kennedy header did force Timmer into a reflex clearance on 50 minutes.
Schwarzer was called upon rarely in the second 45 and produced a solid save from Van der Vaart's free kick on the hour.
On 70 minutes, Kennedy put in a strong run into the box, but the shot didn't match the build-up. However, Australia's persistence was rewarded six minutes later when