The Socceroos kicked off the new millennium with a packed schedule of 15 matches around the world. 

This included a 3-0 friendly win over Hungary in Budapest, a 1-1 draw with Dimitar Berbatov’s Bulgaria in South America and a 2-1 defeat of Paraguay in Australia. 

It was the starting point for the "Golden Generation”, who are now making their voices heard as the game reaches a crucial point during the suspension of football activity in Australia. 

In their final match of 2000, the Socceroos swept aside Scotland at Hampden Park. 

The Aussies - ranked 74 at the time in FIFA rankings against Scotland ranked 20th - were a class above Craig Brown’s men.

An early goal to future EPL star Brett Emerton followed by David Zdrilic’s header on 66 minutes courtesy of Kevin Muscat’s pinpoint cross. 

One of those on that chilly night was Wehrman. 

Brett Emerton opened the scoring against Scotland in the 2-0 for the Socceroos
 
“We outplayed Scotland and the boys outplayed England a few years later,” he tells FTBL from his lockdown base in Oslo, Norway. 

“I can remember that we had really good control of the game and once we got the first goal, it felt like, ‘Gee, we really are the better team here’. 

“And so there was no reason why we couldn’t go on and get the result."

At the time the tough midfielder was one of the few Aussie NSL-based players in Frank Farina’s squad 

The rest of the squad was European based. 

“I think we’ve always had the attitude and that’s what’s great about Australian players," says Wehrmann. "We’ve always felt we don’t fear anyone. 

“And against Scotland, we didn’t fear them at all.”

What's more, the Socceroos didn’t feature their biggest stars that night: Mark Viduka, Craig Moore, Tony Vidmar, Mark Bosnich or Harry Kewell. 

In some respects, it was a weakened Australian side that took to the park in front of 30,000 or so local fans. 

Scotland featured Dominic Matteo, Barry Ferguson, and Don Hutchinson, plus in goals future Wellington Phoenix keeper coach Jonathan Gould. 

A 22-year-old Wehrman came on in the 75th minute for future Premier League player Josip Skoko.

Also playing that night in Green and Gold was debutant Jacob Burns (a second-half sub for the ‘Roos) and Mark Schwarzer in goals, who was said to be watched by Middlesbrough that night. 

Paul Okon bossed the midfield while Tony Popovic was dominant in central defence for Frank Farina's Australia. 

It was the start of a golden generation.

Twenty-eight months later, and with a World Cup qualification disaster behind them, Australia humbled David Beckham’s England at London’s Upton Park 3-1. 

And of course, in 2005 the Green and Gold qualified for their first World Cup in 32 years as other names such as Tim Cahill and John Aloisi came to the fore. 

Seven months later, the Socceroos progressed through the group stage at Germany 2006 only to be knocked out by eventual champions Italy. 

Wehrman remains a passionate fan of the game in Australia and keeps tabs on the game’s developments from his base in Oslo. 

He is currently “on the coaching merry go round” in Norway after his most recent coaching stint ended late in 2019 with Norwegian outfit Fredrikstad. 

“We had a lot of players playing at top levels in Europe, which you could feel. We felt we could beat them and we ended up doing that,” added Wehrman of that night in Scotland. 

Read Wehrman's view on FFA CEO James Johnson and how the game can move forward in Australia later this week.