Kaiserslautern, Germany (My Sportsbook) - After qualifying for the 2006 World Cup in a playoff, Australia hopes to carry that momentum into Fritz- Walter Stadium on Monday when it opens up the tournament against Japan.

Australia will be competing in its first World Cup match since 1974 after defeating Uruguay, 4-2 on penalties in the second leg of the intercontinental playoff at Sydney's Telstra Stadium.

Even though the Australian players might be new to this prestigious stage, the head coach enters Monday with an impressive resume. Guus Hiddink, who replaced former boss Frank Farina in the summer of 2005, became a soccer icon in the Far East after guiding Korea Republic to the semifinals in the 2002 World Cup. Most recently, Hiddink led Eredivisie champion PSV Eindhoven to its fifth league title in seven years, 19th overall.

Hiddink will field a lineup versus Japan mostly comprised of Premiership players including Lucas Neill, Tim Cahill, Mark Viduka, Craig Moore, Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton.

As for Japan, Monday's match cannot come any sooner. Besides host Germany, Japan was the first team to qualify for the international competition.

After picking up six consecutive victories in the 2004 preliminary round, Japan went on to record 15 points out of a possible 18 in the qualifying campaign.

This year's tournament marks Japan's third consecutive World Cup, and the team's midfield could give Australia a lot of problems on Monday. The midfield players are some of the best on the continent, including two-time Asian Player of the Year Hidetoshi Nakata, Shunsuke Nakamura and Shinji Ono.

Australia and Japan will be playing each other for the first time ever in this tournament. Overall, Australia leads the all-time series with four wins and three draws in 10 encounters.

Australia will be wearing their yellow and green jerseys, while Japan will be fitted in blue and white.