Australia coach Ange Postecoglou was proud of his side despite their 3-2 defeat to Netherlands on Wednesday.
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The Socceroos gave Louis van Gaal's men a real scare and came from behind to take a 2-1 lead early on in the second half through a Mile Jedinak penalty.
Netherlands, however, turned things around through goals from Robin van Persie and Memphis Depay, but Postecoglou was still pleased with the effort displayed by his players.
"I really want us to be an exciting team. It's the players who have to do it and they were magnificent," he told a news conference. "We went out there today and said we'd have a go and we did.
"People look at us and predict the way we're going to play. Today it was about playing our kind of football. In the first half we were excellent.
"Both goals were preventable in the second half, but I can't fault the players. I just wanted the players to get a reward the way they went about it today. It's heartbreaking for them."
Tim Cahill netted his second goal of the competition with a fine strike to level the scores at 1-1, although he picked up a booking which means he will miss the clash against Spain through suspension -- Wednesday's clash could therefore have been his last ever World Cup game.
"It just felt so right to hit it [the goal]," he said. "That's what it's all about, those are defining moments. I want to leave a mark for all the kids in Australia and for them to be inspired.
"I left everything on the pitch these last two games. You have to put your body on the line sometimes. We will really try to test ourselves against the best in the world [against Spain]."
Postecoglou added on Cahill: "Timmy was Timmy. He was going to be a handful for any opposition. I told him that I wanted this to be his best World Cup."