WHILE England's players wilted in the Frankfurt heat last weekend, Craig Moore has claimed that the superior fitness levels of the Australian squad enabled the Socceroos to overcome both the Kaiserslautern sunshine and their Japanese opponents in their World Cup opener.

Despite trailing for more than 50 minutes of their opening Group F game, Guus Hiddink's side produced a late rally to score three goals in the final six minutes and claim their maiden World Cup win.

The last-gasp comeback, which came courtesy of a Tim Cahill brace and a stoppage-time strike from John Aloisi, would have been impressive enough in any conditions.

But it was particularly commendable given the intense afternoon heat.

The temperature in Kaiserslautern's Fritz-Walter Stadion had soared above 30 degrees by the time Cahill drilled home Australia's equaliser, making conditions similar to those experienced by England two days earlier.

Yet while England's players were shattered when the final whistle blew, the Australians were playing their best football of the match as full-time approached. According to Moore, the contrast is anything but a co-incidence.

"I think you could see the effect of all the hard training that we've done," said the Newcastle United centre-half. "The fitness of the lads was incredible and that Australian never-say-die attitude really came through for us at the end.

"To score three late goals like that was a fantastic way to finish the day, but I always believed it was possible.

"I didn't think we deserved to be behind, and I knew we would come good.

"It was extremely hot out there. I know the England players said the same after they had played on Saturday and, having played in it, I can certainly confirm just how hot it was.

"But we coped with that. Our fitness levels really pulled us through in the last five or ten minutes."

It also helped, of course, that Australia finished the game with three pairs of fresh legs.

With his side struggling to claw back their one-goal deficit, Hiddink threw caution to the wind as he introduced two strikers - Aloisi and Josh Kennedy - and Cahill, an attacking midfielder.

Again, the contrast with England's approach is marked. Sven-Goran Eriksson has been consistently criticised for failing to make bold substitutions of his own and, just as he was castigated for failing to influence his side's 2002 World Cup quarter-final defeat to Brazil, so he was berated for bringing on Owen Hargreaves against Paraguay ahead of the likes of Aaron Lennon and Theo Walcott.

Perhaps, after watching Australia claw victory from the jaws of certain defeat, he will be persuaded to adopt a bolder approach in future.

"The gaffer (Hiddink) is always looking to change things if the game is not panning out in the way we would like," said Moore, who was one of the players to make way against Japan as the Socceroos coach sought to change the game.

"We were 1-0 down, so he decided it was time to make a few changes. They obviously worked because each and every one of the substitutes made a difference.

"At the time of the first change, we still had three men at the back. We didn't need three men in there when we trailing 1-0 down."

Monday's victory gives Australia every chance of qualifying for the knockout stage of the competition for the first time in their history.

Hiddink's side face Brazil in Munich's Allianz Arena on Sunday before travelling to Stuttgart for a potentially decisive final group game against Croatia on June 22.

"This has left us in a good position," agreed Moore. "This is exactly where we wanted to be at the start of the tournament, but we can't start thinking that we've done anything yet.

"We'll be going into the last week knowing we have a chance of qualifying for the second round, but with Brazil and Croatia coming up we also know that it's not going to be easy.