2002 World Cup - Uruguay 3 Australia 0

Uruguay scored the goals they needed to overhaul Australia's World Cup play-off lead and go into Saturday's draw in Pusan as one of 32 contenders for the title.

Australia took a 1-0 lead from the first leg to the Centenario stadium in Montevideo but it did not look like enough in this final of 778 qualifiers to reach next summer's event in Korea and Japan.

Reports that Uruguay coach Victor Pua would be missing Malaga striker Dario Silva for this game with a dislocated shoulder were unfounded and he opened the scoring to unleash bedlam in the 14th minute among the 68,000 in the stadium where Uruguay won the first ever World Cup final back in 1930.

Silva cashed up a long ball from Gianni Guigou and cut inside defender Shaun Murphy to hit a low cross shot into the net.

But Australia held at level on aggregare until the 70th minute and retained the threat of an away goal which would have assured their place in the finals for the first time since 1974.

Substitute Richard Morales headed in with twenty minutes to go and then scored his second from close range after Australia failed to clear a cross in the 90th minute.

Mark Viduka had Australia's best chance to get an away goal in the 16th minute when he headed a Stan Lazaridis cross from the left but saw his efort saved by Juventus goalkeeper Fabian Carini.

Murphy also came clsoe with a header on 79 minutes from a Brett Emerthon free kick but Soccer Australia now see their finest ever team crash out of World Cup qualifiers at the last hurdle for the fourth time.

In 1998 they missed out after Iran beat them in a play-off and they lost to Argentina four years before with Scotland winning in 1986.

The Australians must now go back to lobbying for changes in qualifying for the finals to help them qualify in future but they face a political minefield with a mass of competing interests in Africa and Asia which FIFA prefer to aid.

Soccer Australia must now look at financing their squad of stars such as Viduka, Emerthon and Harry Kewell from friendlies and the game in Australia has suffered a real blow with coach Frank Farina also interesting European clubs.