Soccer grows slowly Down Under, but this is huge

	Australian fans mob Tony Vidmar after the Socceroos' dramatic victory over Uruguay. Australia is headed to its second World Cup. AP

I can hardly believe my eyes. Australia is going to the World Cup.

Having lived in Australia practically my entire life, I have seen the Socceroos go from one failure to another. From being eliminated by Argentina in qualification in 1994, to a repeat performance against Iran in '98, to a heartbreaking loss to Uruguay in '02 -- I guess that's why most Australians haven't been transformed into passionate Socceroo fans.

But Wednesday morning's penalty shoot-out victory over Uruguay was nothing less than extraordinary. Images revealed that soccer was finally able to unite a country that has qualified for the World Cup only once, in 1974 -- at least more than it ever has in the past. But Australian soccer still has a long way to go.

Like the U.S., Australia prides itself on being a melting pot of cultures. That has a lot to do with why the Socceroos haven't found the outpouring of support that most other national teams thrive off of. With so many diverse nationalities in "the lucky country," you can understand why a large portion of the population supports other nations' teams.

I guess I fit into this category. Although I was born and raised in Australia, my parents are Uruguayan, and I was pulling for a Uruguay victory -- after all, instead of "footy," I was brought up with the achievements of "La Celeste." There are thousands, maybe millions of similar cases, and I can guarantee you that a large percentage of the 82,000 fans that packed Sydney's Telstra Stadium on Wednesday still see the Socceroos as their No. 2 team.

Would there have been so much Aussie support if, instead of Uruguay, the Socceroos faced England, Scotland, Italy, Turkey, Greece or Serbia and Montenegro in the playoff? I doubt it.

Just take a look at some players of the Australian squad: Marco Bresciano, Mark Viduka, Ljubo Milicevic, Stan Lazaridis, Tony Popovic, Mark Schwarzer, Tim Cahill -- all players with no Aussie background whatsoever. Earlier this week, the Uruguayan press announced that only one player in the Australian squad can rightly consider himself as a full-blooded Aussie. It's a startling statistic when you compare Australia to Uruguay, a country that despises foreign intervention.

I'm not trying to say that Socceroo players aren't Australian. I'm just trying to point out that cultural diversity may be one of the reasons why soccer has lacked recognition among Australians.

That said, there are more obvious reasons why people like me can't say that they have always been loyal to the Socceroos.