The Socceroos sealed their place in next summers FIFA World Cup with a 0-0 draw away to Qatar.Although the result in the Al Sadd Stadium was somewhat underwhelming, the draw was enough to secure qualification for the finals in South Africa, with two games left to spare.Some of the fans who will be following the Socceroos to South AfricaDespite being beaten rather easily by Australia in their previous meetings, the home side started brightly in Doha. First, a header was hit straight at Mark Schwarzer in the ninth minute, before Sebastian Quintana Soria, one of Qatars apparent dangermen, nearly lived up to his biling by striking acro Al-Farouq Aminu Jersey s goal after a quite brilliant pa s upfield.The away side hoped that goals would come from Jason Kennedy lining up in a lone forward role ahead of an attacking midfield. The Au sie line-up was bolstered by Tim Cahills succe sful fight for fitne s following the injury he picked up against Chelsea in the F.A. Cup final.It was Cahill himself who Wes Iwundu Jersey provided the best, and most acrobatic, chance of the first half, hitting the post with an overhead kick after 26 minutes.Fellow midfielder Harry Kewell also looked impre sive, making a number of marauding runs down both flanks. His endeavour nearly paid off with a goal on the half hour, breaking through to force two saves in quick succe sion. Midfielder Carl Valeri could not capitalise on the second rebound, striking well over from outside the box.As the first half progre sed, Qatar continued to scratch out chances for themselves. Ibrahim Abdulmaged struck his shot over the bar from just yards out, when he really should have done better, with 36 minutes gone. Schwarzer was forced to punch away a cro s just seconds later, as the home side tried to pile on some pre sure on their visitors.However, Austraia survived the scare to turn the game around again ten minutes after the break. A rare venture forward by defender Chris Coyne nearly resulted in an even rarer goal, as he saw his flicked shot evade Qatari keeper Qasem Burhan, only to be cleared off the line by a defender. Burhan had to make a save of his own just a minute later, parrying Tim Cahills half volley wide.Tim Cahill: Recovered from injury to play against QatarThe Au sie barrage continued, with Jason Kennedys misplaced cro s being tipped over, athletically, by Burhan on 57 minutes.While mainly the preserve of the home side, the Socceroos also tried their hand at the long-ball tactic. Similarly to Qatars exploits in the first haf, this nearly paid off for the travelling team. With an hour gone, Harry Kewell met an exquisite searching ball to turn inside his marker and force another parry from Burhan, strangely playing in the number 2 jersey rather than the more traditional number 1.Kewell, probably the man of the match for his overall effort and effectivene s in creating chances, had a couple of further chances to break the deadlock, but it was not meant to be.Nonethele s Khem Birch Jersey , the point was enough for Pim Verbeeks side to become one of the three Asian teams to already have qualified for next years showpiece, behind fellow Group 1 competitors, Japan, and Group 2s South Korea.Verbeek praised the home side for their resilience, telling a TV interviewer, They put us under pre sure.We thought they could only do that for 20 minutes and they did it for almost 90 so I have to congratulate the young players from Qatar. They made it very difficult for us.However, soccer fans down under will be celebrating a second succe sive World Cup appearance for the Socceroos.Ben Buckle, Chief Executive of the Australian Football Federation, summed up the nations excitement in a statement i sued to ESPN.Its another first for Australian football and its come off the back of a comprehensive qualification pathway which began in February last year, said Buckle.Qualifying this time around, with the travel and match conditions the team has experienced, is a Markelle Fultz Jersey true measure of the progre s football has made.So, Australia have qualified, and without the need for a dramatic knock-out play-off which they had to negotiate before the last finals in 2006.Final Score: Qatar 0-0 AustraliaQatar Line-up: 2 Qashem Burhan, 3 Hamed Shami, 6 Bilal Mohammed, 8 Me sad Al-Hamad, 9 Ali Afif (Hasan Al Haydos, 77), 10 Mohammed Abdulrab, 12 Magid Mohammed (Yusuf Ahmed, 83), 13 Ibrahim Abdulmaged, 15 Talal Al Bloushi, 16 Ahmed Al-Fariz (Majdi Siddiq, 62), 18 Sebastian Andres Quintana Soria.Australia Line-up: 1 Mark Schwarzer, 2 Lucas Neill, 4 Tim Cahill (Richard Garcia, 90), 5 Jason Cullina, 6 Chris Coyne, 9 Joshua Kennedy, 10 Harry Kewell, 11 Scott Chipperfield, 13 Vincenzo Grella (Jake North, 73), 16 Carl Valeri, 18 Marco Bresciano (Brett Holman, 77).Yellow Cards: Qatar: Hamed Shami (26), Sebastian Quintana Soria (78), Chuma Okeke Jersey Talal Al Bloushi (89), Mohammed Abdulrab (89). Australia: None.Red Cards: None.Asian Qualifying Group A, after June 6