To see the 'Roos triumphant return...

Australia became the third country to book a place at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa after holding Qatar to a scoreless draw on Sunday, creating history by qualifying for back-to-back tournaments for the first time.

After arriving back in Sydney today to prepare for the final two Asian qualifying matches against Bahrain and Japan, Neill warned the footballing world that Australia will present an ever greater threat four years after reaching the last 16 at Germany 2006.

"From the very first camp (prior to the qualifying stage) there was an unbelievable focus to want to achieve a second qualification," Neill said.

"We've made a statement to the world that not only have we got there once, but we've come straight back and we want to go again. We are ready to compete against the world's best, to challenge ourselves personally and as a team."

"We've become more resilient and, with a little bit of tweaking from the management and the coaching staff, we've turned into a team who is not only 100 percent committed but who now have a bit of nous.

"(We are a) team (that is) very difficult to beat. If we can't win games we definitely don't want to lose them. We'll be fully prepared, extremely fit and ready to take on the world's best."

"From there, who knows what's possible?"

Pim Verbeek has openly challenged his squad to better the standard set in Germany, reasoning that to aim any lower was pointless.

"If you go to World Cup and say 'let's win one game and we're all happy' then everybody's laughing," he said. "We have the same target and the target is to do it better than 2006."

"I don't say we're going to do it better but that's the target. We do everything in our capacity to have better results than the last time."

"It will be a tough challenge but this (qualifying through Asia) was a tough challenge also and I think the boys are ready."

Star midfielder Tim Cahill, who almost snatched victory over Qatar with a spectacular bicycle kick, added: "We all play in the some of the biggest leagues in the world and are successful in our own right .

"Those sorts of pressures we want to entice and want to deal with (at the World Cup). Everyone is expecting us to do better than the last time. I'm not going to say we're going to do better but we're going to give everything."

Asked how qualification felt the second time around - chaotic scenes in Sydney after the penalty shoot-out against Uruguay compared to the business-like shut-out of Qatar - Neill said: "Equally satisfying and in a funny kind of way a lot more rewarding because it's always harder to do it the second time around because of the expectations.

"It's (qualifying through Asia) created a team that plays much more competitive games much more regularly and has managed to get into the World Cup as one of the first nations to do so.

"That left us wanting to go back for some more."

To see the 'Roos triumphant return...