Australia heads into Sunday's Group F game against Brazil full of confidence.
The Socceroos came from a goal down to beat Japan, 3-1, with three goals in the last 10 minutes and hold the Group F lead over Brazil on goal difference going into their second match.
The teams are even in three previous meetings in official competitions — all at the Confederations Cup. They tied 0-0 in group play in 1997 and met in the third-place game in the same year when Brazil won, 6-0. Four years later, the Socceroos beat Brazil, 1-0, in the third-place game.
Socceroo star Harry Kewell says a repeat of the Confederations Cup victory is possible.
''There's no difference to playing any other team, really, whether it's going to be Liechtenstein or Japan or England or Argentina,'' Kewell says. ''You go out in the same mind. It doesn't matter who you are playing against.''
Australia captain Mark Viduka says the Socceroos have nothing to lose.
''It's a big match. Brazil are obviously favorites to win the World Cup,'' he said, ''so we're going to have to play very well to get a result. The game against Japan gave us a lot of confidence, especially getting the three points. In a way, we're going into this game with a little bit less pressure on us than the first game.''
Australia coach Guus Hiddink said he will field a full-strength squad against Brazil instead of saving some of his players for a potentially decisive game against Croatia next Thursday.
''We are the underdog with capital letters,'' the Dutchman said. ''It's difficult to say how we are going to get a result. We have various tactics to cope, but against a big team like Brazil, they have so much experience that they can handle any tactical change because they're normally dominating the game.''