Up to half a dozen players in the squad were laid low by the mystery debilitating stomach disorder,

Jason Culina and Jade North were too sick to even leave their hotel to watch the match for the bench and had to be axed from the starting line-up at the eleventh hour.

Urziceni's Jacob Burns was drafted in at 5pm to fill the hole in midfield to replace the missing Culina, while Colchester United skipper Chris Coyne packed out the defence alongside Lucas Neill.

Neill, Coyne, Carl Valeri and goalscorer Scott Chipperfield were the stars of the Socceroo side in the 1-0 win, rarely putting a foot wrong as they fended off the Uzbekistan attack.

And coach Pim Verbeek paid tribute to the backline which protected their vital cleansheet and the three points it brought Australia.

"This was a difficult game for them, high balls and a lot of pressure and that's what they like," he said after the final whistle.

"Jason Culina and Jade North, they both had the bug, Henk Duut the assistant coach had the same bug and he said he could not play also.

"It was a little bit unlucky on the day of the game so we had no time to do any technical training.

"I think Jake Burns deserves a big compliment from everybody because he only heard at 5pm that he had to play without any real training in that position.

"I think he did a great job for the team."

Verbeek added: "That was the third time [Lucas Neill and Chris Coyne] have played together. They never panic.

"They did a great job but we shouldn't forget the midfield players - Jake Burns and Carl Valeri won a lot of balls."