Mark Viduka

Centre Forward – Mark Viduka (C)

The captain of this lineup, and arguably the greatest player to grace the CoE, Mark Viduka is an enigma in almost every sense of the word.

So without trying to analyse what made Australia’s mysterious captain tick – and prematurely depart the national spotlight – lets look at the stats that made ‘Dukes’ Australia’s most fearsome striker.

Fourty goals in just 48 appearances for the Melbourne Knights – where the Knights Stadium’s only grandstand now bears his name. 40 goals in 84 appearances for Dinamo Zagreb, a mammoth 30 in 37 for Scottish giants Celtic and 59 in 130 for (at the time) English powerhouses Leeds United.

Two hundred and two goals in 409 league appearances isn’t a bad tally for a footballer that on multiple occasions admitted he didn’t love the game.

Viduka scored the most goals of any Australian in the UEFA Champions League, was rumoured to have turned down a move to Barcelona, and captained Australia’s legendary 2006 World Cup side.

Enough said.

John Aloisi

Striker – John Aloisi

Although Frank Farina deserves a lot of credit as a fellow CoE graduate – and it would be nice if this list didn’t replicate Australia’s 2006 World Cup squad – in terms of exceptional talent, there’s no question Aloisi deserves the final spot in this XI.

In fact, considering Brisbane Roar’s current performances under Aloisi’s reign, he may even be a better coach than Farina (2001 Confederations Cup aside), but let’s not rub it in.

Aloisi was the first Australian to ever play and score in La Liga, the English Premier League and Serie A. His nerves of steel from the penalty spot guided Australia to their first World Cup in 32 years, where he then became the second Australian to score a goal.

Although many consider Aloisi to be a classic poacher, he had tremendous bursts of speed (that topless dash around Stadium Australia) and a powerful physique to compliment the calm precision that defined his career.

At club level, Aloisi played for Cremonese in Italy, Portsmouth and Coventry City in England, Osasuna and Alaves in Spain before returning to play for the Central Coast Mariners, Sydney FC and Melbourne Heart in an undervalued A-League career.

And while many remember him for delivering one of the greatest moments in Australian sporting history, even more impressive from a personal standpoint is his 55 caps and 27 goals for Australia, at a goal to game ratio to rival Tim Cahill.

It’s fitting that a list marking the end of an era concludes at a player that with just one kick, ushered in an entirely new one.