'A new golden generation': Socceroos to face Lionel Messi's Argentina at FIFA World Cup

But he is more than happy to bask in the glory of a man helping the Socceroos' new golden generation lead Australia to a World Cup showdown with one of the greatest players of all time.

An eclectic mix of players without so much as one Premier League starter among them, and a coach who was supposed to be a dead man walking in Qatar are carrying Australia to a date with Lionel Messi and Argentina in the round of 16 in Qatar.

Mathew Leckie's 60^th-minute strike secured back-to-back World Cup wins for the first time in the nation's history. A 1-0 win over Denmark, ranked no. 10 in the world by FIFA, both defied a French capitulation and sparked wild celebrations in the early hours of the morning back on home soil. Flares were let off as fans erupted with a sense of wonder.

The Australians did things the hard way at Al Janoub Stadium - as if they know anything else - and that's why it's time to board the bandwagon.

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France hadn't bothered referring to Socceroos players by name in their preparations for the tournament opener simply because Ibrahima Konate and his teammates "don't know any of them".

Gardiner certainly knew about Duke.

"I was president of Parramatta Melita Eagles, he was up and coming. The coach wanted to bring him into the squad, and they were reminding me we offered him $60 a week for petrol," Gardiner said. "He played a role in us getting promoted out of the second tier into the first tier of the NPL. It's nice to look at him and know he was a young player at a club I ran, and I get to bask in his glory.

"You know there are kids who want to be like Mat Ryan now, after a brilliant save during the game. You know there are kids who want to be [Mathew] Leckie, trying to turn defenders inside out, or being able to head a ball like Mitchell Duke. That's what happens when you're a young footballer watching these players, you want to imagine. You want to know it's possible to be Michelle Heyman or Sam Kerr. All of those things are possible."

Harry Souttar spent a year sidelined with a torn anterior cruciate ligament and is now heralded as a hero by the country he adopted three years ago. Only the most ardent fans could have told you about Ajdin Hrustic 12 months ago.

Arnold's mob is a motley crew of players from the A-League and second-tier competitions around the globe, lacking the cut-through of names like Kewell, Cahill, Schwarzer and Viduka.

Yet now they have a chance to go further than all who have gone before them.

"Maybe we're talking about a new golden generation now," Socceroos coach Graham Arnold said. "Because we have been listening and hearing about the golden generation of 2006 who got four points - and now we have got six. Maybe, again, we're talking about a new generation."

The Socceroos scraped into the World Cup by the skin of their teeth. Graham Arnold's future was balanced on a knife's edge in March, when he was almost sacked by Football Australia during a tumultuous qualification campaign.

So many have questioned his tactical nous, his desire for the Socceroos to capture "Aussie DNA" hardly enough to convince his doubters he was the right man for the job. Some had been counting down the days until his contract expires at the end of Australia's campaign in Qatar.

"But he keeps finding answers," Socceroos captain Mat Ryan said.

An upset win over Peru - thanks in part to a dancing goalkeeper who became an internet sensation in Andrew Redmayne - booked Australia's ticket to the World Cup in a shootout.

Now they have defied the odds and perhaps their own expectations in advancing to the round of 16.

"The figure I saw was the Danes were worth 10 times the dollar value of the Socceroos when you counted up their players. We're still building as a football nation," Gardiner said.

"We've got a number of players on the international scene but nowhere near the number of the squads we're going up against with the history of the game. We're unexpected victors already, having knocked off the 10th-ranked team in the world. The average Australian looks at that and thinks 'We're up for this, and we're going to stand with you'."

The spotlight always shines brightest on Messi.

The Argentinian superstar is one of the greatest to ever do it. Ask any punter who the best of all time is and you're likely to get one of three names, and Messi is among them.

If there is to be a man to carry Argentina to soccer's holy grail, it is the 35-year-old whose name is on the back of millions of jerseys around the world.

Argentina are ranked No. 3 in the world. The Socceroos are 38^th.

"I really do think they go in there with the right frame of mind. I don't think it'll be like the French, the Argentinians have already been shown to be vulnerable. I like their chances, the Socceroos," Gardiner said.

If you need a reason to dream, now you have one. Australia's 1-0 win over Denmark secured a berth in the World Cup's knockout stages for only the second time, backing up a win over Tunisia to mirror the feat of that 2006 squad.

The Socceroos' charge at a World Cup unites a nation like few other national teams do.

"There's a sense that this is really a global stage where we're an underdog. I think that's why people identify with the Socceroos," Gardiner said. "We go to the rugby and we expect to win, we go to the Rugby League World Cup and we expect to win, we go to netball and we expect to win."

But when it comes to the world game, we're David taking on Goliath. We're the little battler that could. Why else would thousands of fans cheer in unison at Melbourne's Federation Square and George Street in Sydney?

"It just shows that there's people in our country that love this game, and that is just one city," Socceroos striker Jamie Maclaren said. "We sit on the backburner with a lot of codes in our country, so to sit here now and do what only one other Socceroos team has done before is massive."

Can the Socceroos actually win the World Cup? It sounds ridiculous to even ask the question.

But just ask it, even if you just want to know how it sounds to wonder.

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