To see John Travolta meet the Socceroos on Friday at Kloofzicht Lodge...

Emerton has been renowned for being the lungs of the Socceroos midfield for many years, using his extraordinary athleticism and his talent with the ball to overcome opposition teams for more than a decade in the national set-up.

Whenever Emerton has presented himself in a Socceroos shirt, he gives every appearance that he has left nothing in the tank and that any shortcomings are not for a lack of effort.

But that crazy night in Stuttgart against Croatia four years ago claimed more than just Graham Poll's refereeing career. Incredibly, Emerton was sent off without touching another player, copping two cautions, one for kicking the ball away and the other for handball.

Considering the nature of the match, Emerton seemed a little hard done by, and his indiscretions meant he would have to watch on as Australia lost its second-round match to Italy in a heartbreaking manner.

Water under the bridge it is not for Emerton, and the 31-year-old is desperate to set things straight when he returns to the World Cup stage on Sunday against Germany.

"Obviously the way the last World Cup ended for myself, getting sent off in the dying minutes against Croatia is something which I regret. So it's disappointing. But it's great to be back in the World Cup and get another opportunity to go out there and play well and achieve something great with this team," he said.

Emerton is not exactly sure what that something great will be. He knows Australia faces a tough task to get through the group stage, but has backed the character of the side to get the job done.

"It's s tough group, there's no doubt about that. I think our first priority is to try and progress from this group. From there in a one-off game anything is possible. If we get through the group I think that will be a great achievement," he said.

Key to Emerton's confidence is the experience the side has when compared to the team which took on Germany 2006.

"I think obviously there's lots of experience within the team. We've been there and done it before and I think we're a team which over the past few years, we've made ourselves very hard to beat. We know each other's games very well, we have a great understanding and that makes us hard to beat even when we don't play very well. We can still grind out results," he said.

Meanwhile the Socceroos have gained approval from FIFA to include Eugene Galekovic in the 23-man squad as replacement for Brad Jones.

Jones will not be returning to South Africa after flying to France to be with his family after his four-year-old son was diagnosed with leukemia.