Having made a stunning start to his senior career at Marconi Stallions, the left-footed striker was always going to be a key member of the 2003 squad. Made his debut at the Oceania qualifying tournament in Vanuatu, playing in both group matches and scoring one goal in the 6-0 win over Papua New Guinea. In the play-off against Fiji for a place at the 2003 World Youth Championships, he scored a double in the 11-0 first leg win. Injury blighted his lead up to the World Championship in the UAE, missing two matches against the UAE in October, while in the main lead-in tournament for the team, he only managed to play 30 minutes of the final match of the three-game series in South Korea. He however managed a full game in the final preparation match against Japan and went to the tournament as a starting striker. He started in all four of Australia's matches at the World Championships, scoring a crucial goal in the second match against Canada. Australia finished as group winner's after defeating Brazil 3-2 in its final group game, but bowed out surprsingly to the host nation in the next round.