Australia achieved their best-ever Men's World Cup performance 25 years ago when they made the 1999 U-17 World Cup Final, finishing as runners-up.
Jess Vanstrattan was the goalkeeper for the Joeys and produced many important stops for the history-making team along the way.
We recently caught up with the former Joeys shot-stopper to reflect on those fond memories from 1999.
An injury setback
The Joeys had substantial preparation for the tournament, working together for around 12 months beforehand.
A South American tour just prior to the group stage gave the side some final sharpness ahead of the daunting test of a star-studded Brazil team.
The team were training the day before their opening match against Brazil, with Vanstrattan getting in some final saving practice when he suffered an injury that could have derailed his entire tournament.
“We were doing free-kicks at the end of training - the last training session in the lead-up, and it was right at the end of training, and one of the boys hit a free kick that deflected off a wall,” Vanstrattan said.
“I dived, and it deflected the other way, and I just watched it. And as I watched it, I landed on my elbow, and I popped my shoulder out, and it was like, straight away, I thought, 'oh s***, that might be the World Cup for me'. I panicked a little bit.”
Upon physio assessment, Vanstrattan discovered he had suffered a subluxation of his shoulder on the eve of the biggest game of his career so far - but he didn't want anyone to know, including his coach.
So Australia went into their opening clash of the competition against Brazil’s lethal attack with their goalkeeper hampered by injury.
However, Vanstrattan said he would make that same decision to play through the pain barrier even if he had his time again.
“I couldn't raise my arm above my head that first game. He [the physio] strapped it up, but I could only just put my arm to shoulder height,” he admitted.
“But there was no way I was going to miss that first game in the World Cup.
“I thought I could manage it, even though it was Brazil in the World Cup.
“I think looking back on that, if I didn't play in that World Cup, who knows where I would have ended up - it definitely would have been a different story for me.”
The journey to the final
The Joeys were edged out by Brazil in the group stage opener, yet they battled to two narrow victories over Germany and Mali, with Vanstrattan’s superb goalkeeping integral, and the Joeys even topped the group in the process.
Australia then beat Qatar 1-0 in the quarter-finals to make the semi-finals against the United States of America.
Australia stunned a USA team featuring Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley to fire home two goals within 35 minutes, but moments later, their opponents halved the deficit.
“The [USA’s] first goal, I do remember that pretty clearly. Actually, I think he [Donovan] cut inside and hit a left-footed shot to my right; a decent goal,” Vanstrattan told us.
“They scored a scrappy goal from the corner, and [it was] 2-2.”
The game proceeded to extra-time, but with the scores still locked level, a penalty shootout would decide the winner.
Despite his limited exposure to penalty shootouts in his junior development, Vanstrattan admitted that he felt confident Australia would win this one.
The goalkeeper pulled off an important save and saw another one clear the crossbar as Australia advanced to the final, winning 7-6 on penalties.
“It was an amazing feeling,” he said.
“I was just picking a side and going strong, and I was fortunate enough to choose one or two right.
“It was unbelievable really, thinking that we were the first Australia team to make the World Cup final.
"From being a goal down against Germany and losing the first game, it could have been over. Then to these scenes [making the final], it was pretty surreal.”
The final
It was then time for the World Cup final, where Australia would once again compete with Brazil, having lost to them earlier in the tournament, but this time the world's most prestigious cup was on the line.
Vanstrattan recalls the game being a stalemate with the Aussies relying on their defensive solidity that had benefited them throughout the tournament.
“We kept quite a few clean sheets in the World Cup itself,” he explained.
“I do remember doing a lot of work defensively with the boss.
“We were a solid team, and I think we nullified their threats in attack with how we defended.”
The Joeys held their opponents scoreless all the way to the final whistle in extra-time, leaving Vanstrattan needing to produce further heroics in another shootout.
Australia got off to a tricky start as captain Mark Byrnes missed the first penalty.
Vanstrattan then managed to save Brazil’s second penalty and went agonisingly close to keeping out a few others.
“I was confident again and wasn't thinking much other than trying to get a hand on a couple,” he said.
“I got my hand to a couple… a couple I just went wide. I thought they were going to be wider. I just needed one more of them [saves], and I could have had a gold medal around my neck.
“It still hurts, I tell you, 25 years later, it doesn’t feel any different.
“I couldn't tell you where it [the runner's up medal] is today, not to diminish what we did, but it was either gold or go home.”
The legacy
While missing out on lifting the World Cup still hurts, Vanstrattan believes the achievements of the 1999 Joeys certainly had a lasting impact on Australian football.
"It was a big thing. I mean, it was our biggest thing at the time. They were the steps that you needed to take on your journey," he said.
"We had a little bit of a legacy. I think we've done quite well in a lot of Junior World Cups.
"And I think that helped us cement a little bit of respect among the world and what we could still do as a nation, even though you maybe look at Australia not necessarily as a footballing nation per se, compared to some of the bigger countries, but we always did well, and we were proud of that."