10 Famous World Cup Moments Involving Newcastle Players

8. Craig Moore's Nerve-Shredding Penalty (2006)

Australia had competed at just one World Cup, finishing bottom of their group in 1974, prior to qualifying for the 2006 finals in Germany. Beating Japan in their opening Group F game meant the Socceroos had already bettered their performance of 32 years previous and, after losing to Brazil, required just a point against Croatia in their final fixture €“ a match made famous by English referee Graham Poll brandishing three yellow cards to Josip Simunic before sending him off - to progress to the knock-out phase for the first time in their history. But the Aussies' bid to reach the last-16 looked to have gone pear shaped when Darijo Srna landed a major blow to their chances when he put the Croats in front inside two minutes with sweet free kick. Staggering back to their feet, Australia launched a counter-offensive and were rewarded for their endeavour in the 38th minute when Poll whistled for a penalty after spotting a handball. And the whole of Australia must have cradled their hearts in their mouths for a brief second when Craig Moore, not Marc Viduka or Harry Kewell, strode up to take the spot-kick. They needn't have worried as Moore, a Newcastle player at the time, showed immense nerve to power the ball home from 12-yards and bring his country level at a crucial phase of the game. No doubt had they gone into the break behind the Socceroos wouldn't have gleaned the point they required to book a quarter-final berth. Moore later reasoned that "defenders don't often get the chance to score at the World Cup finals," when he explained to ESPN why he unhesitatingly seized the responsibility of converting such an important penalty.