the equaliser against Thailand in September, a double against Saudi Arabia, another double against Malaysia and Australia's second goal in a 3–0 win against Oman. His most important goal, however, came in Australia's last World Cup qualification match on 18 June 2013. After not earning a game for over a year, he came on as a 77th-minute substitute for Tim Cahill and scored Australia's only goal against Iraq with an 83rd-minute header to secure a win and a spot in the World Cup finals. Nicknamed "Jesus" due to his former long haired aesthetic which many thought resembled traditional artistic representations of the Christian religious figure, many sections of the Australian media praised Kennedy as a "saviour" in their commentary during the World Cup Qualifying game against Iraq. Some publications chose to play on the fact that the statue of Christ The Redeemer statue is an iconic image of Rio and Kennedy's goal scoring celebrations were seen to mimic the pose of the statue. Headlines such as "Jesus Saves!" were amended as a result of complaints that largely focussed on religious insensitivity given that Iraq is a predominantly Muslim nation. Kennedy was selected for the Brazil 2014 World Cup squad, after his goal qualified Australia for the tournament. On 4 June 2014, at the socceroos' training camp near Rio, Kennedy was cut from the team due to injury. Personal life Kennedy is married to Australian Opals player Jacinta Hamilton. Career statistics Club International Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kennedy goal. Honours 1. FC Nürnberg DFB-Pokal: 2006–07 Nagoya Grampus J1 League: 2010 Japanese Super Cup: 2011 Australia OFC U-20 Championship: 2001 Individual Bundesliga Player of the Month: February 2008 J. League Top Scorer: 2010, 2011 J. League Best Eleven: 2010, 2011 Japanese Super Cup: 2011 References External links Nagoya-Grampus official site Profile OzFootball profile Living people 1982 births People from Wodonga Australian people of Irish descent Australian soccer players Australian expatriate soccer players Australia international soccer players Sportsmen from Victoria (Australia) Association football forwards 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Expatriate footballers in Germany Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players 1. FC Köln players 1. FC Köln II players 1. FC Nürnberg players Carlton S.C. players Dynamo Dresden players Karlsruher SC players Stuttgarter Kickers players VfL Wolfsburg players National Soccer League (Australia) players Nagoya Grampus players J1 League players Expatriate