STUTTGART, June 22 - Australian striker Mark Viduka said the Socceroos' fighting spirit combined with a cool nerve had taken them to the World Cup second round after a thrilling 2-2 Group F draw with Croatia on Thursday.

Harry Kewell's 79th minute equalising strike earned the Aussies the all-important point in a match of three red cards.

"It feels great. What a great game tonight, you could not ask for more," said Viduka.

He said they had refused to let their heads drop after Croatia took a third minute lead through a Darijo Srna free kick.

"It's very difficult when you cop a goal that early but we knew if we kept our composure we could do some damage. We showed we had the spirit to do it.

"We threw on all the forwards to try and get something and thank God Harry was in the right place at the right time. It was such an end-to-end game, we had a little bit of luck on our side but we earned it tonight."

Zlatko Kranjcar, Croatian coach said: "I think my team played the best they can but we failed to get the result we needed. It was a dramatic and dynamic match and we missed our chances. I want to congratulate Australia.

"We have to look to the future."

Croatia had two sent off -- Dario Simic (85) and Josip Simunic (90) -- and Australia lost Brett Emerton (87) to a red card.

Kranjcar continued: "We didn't play the way we wanted to after an early lead. My players sat back on it although I instructed them otherwise.

"I don't want to comment on the refereeing, Australia got the result they wanted and that's all there is to it."

He continued: "We missed our chance to secure a second round berth against Japan (0-0). If we had won there a draw would have been enough for us today."