Soccer: Socceroos wise up

Australian soccer's top official says the Socceroos' last World Cup bid was undermined by an "unsavoury" Uruguayan campaign of disruption and it will not be allowed to happen again.

Football Federation Australia chief executive John O'Neill said the Socceroos could even walk from the pitch if things got out of hand.

Australia's hopes of qualifying for the World Cup finals for the first time in 32 years again rest on a two-legged playoff against the South Americans, with the first match in Montevideo on November 12, and the second in Sydney on November 16.

In 2001, the arriving players were jostled and spat at in Montevideo and became virtual prisoners in their hotel in the lead-up to a 0-3 away loss, after they had won the home game 1-0.