Australia's Lucas Neill has highlighted the importance of producing winning results over big teams such as Germany.
The Socceroos put aside a tardy start to record their first win over the world's third-ranked team with a 2-1 victory in Monchengladbach this morning and despite it only being a friendly, Neill was delighted with the way his side performed.
It was also vital for the morale of the squad to hit back with a good showing after the World Cup debacle which saw them lose 4-0 to the Germans in their opening game in Durban.
"This is great for the future of the game in our country: by knocking off big teams, we keep surprising ourselves with good performances and give the young lads an amazing platform to build on,'' Neill said. "This will make us stronger.
"It is important to keep getting results like this. We'd have taken this result in the World Cup, but we live and learn and we'll be a better team for it and that is important for the country.''
