Brett Emerton
Debut: 7 February 1998
Australia 0-1 Chile

Clarence Acuna gave the visiting Chileans an early first-half lead in Melbourne. A fortnight before his 19th birthday, Emerton was ordered on by Terry Venables with a quarter of an hour to go, but the Sydney Olympic starlet was unable to change the outcome in front of the 12,000-strong crowd.
 


Mark Bresciano
Debut: 1 June 2001
Australia 1-0 France

What a game to make your debut! Clayton Zane converted on the hour-mark in South Korea to claim a Confederations Cup victory over the world champions, no less, who had Frank Leboeuf, Robert Pires and Nicolas Anelka in their ranks. Bresciano, aged 21, was a 79th minute sub for Josip Skoko.

The Socceroos went on to claim third place in the tournament, Bresciano again emerging from the bench late on in another memorable win over Brazil.
 


Tim Cahill
Debut: 30 March 2004
Australia 1-0 South Africa

Bresciano scored 19 minutes into this game at QPR’s Loftus Road Stadium in West London. A 24-year-old Cahill, who had previously played for Samoa at under-age level and recently rejected calls to represent the Republic of Ireland, emerged from the bench after 75 minutes.

The record scorer’s first goals in green and gold came in the 9-0 thumping of Tahiti two months later.