Socceroos to face South Africa and Holland
Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 10:28 pm
The road to South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup is being mapped out at Football Federation Australia (FFA) with the announcement of two international matches in August and September to kick-off the next stage of the World Cup qualifying campaign as well as qualifiers for the 2011 Asian Cup, courtesy of FOXTEL.
The Qantas Socceroos will meet the 2010 World Cup hosts, South Africa, in London on 19 August and the Netherlands in Eindhoven on 6 September.
“It’s all part of the road that leads to the door of the 2010 FIFA World Cup,” said FFA CEO, Ben Buckley.
“We said we would leave no stone unturned in doing everything we can off the park to help Australia qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and the same goes for the 2011 Asian Cup.
“Coach Pim Verbeek sees these two international matches as important opportunities to get the squad together and to work with the players in a match environment.”
As hosts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa is the only team guaranteed of a berth at the tournament.
“With many of South Africa’s first team players also based in England and elsewhere in Europe, meeting them in London is an efficient and valuable opportunity for both of us,” Buckley said.
The teams last met in 2005 in Durban with a 1-1 draw, but previously met in London in 2004 with Australia winning 1-0.
The Netherlands game will be played four days before Australia’s crucial World Cup qualifier against Uzbekistan on 10 September.
“It’s important that we go into the Uzbekistan game with as much preparation as possible, and playing a team which is ranked 5th in the world and made the quarter finals of Euro 2008 will give us just what we need at that time,” Buckley said.
It is also a warm-up match for the Dutch team which is set to meet Macedonia in a World Cup qualifier on 10 September, and will be the first game with new coach Bert van Marwijk in charge.
Australia has only met the Netherlands once before – in a warm-up match prior to the 2006 FIFA World Cup resulting in a 1-1 draw in a highly competitive workout for both teams.
Australia v South Africa will take place on Tuesday 19 August at Loftus Road, the home ground of Queens Park Rangers, with the kick-off time to be confirmed. Netherlands v Australia will take place at Philips Stadium, Eindhoven, on Saturday 6 September with kick-off time of 8.45pm local.
These two games bring the Qantas Socceroos’ confirmed match schedule over the next 12 months to 12 matches including two Asian Cup qualifiers.
“It’s a busy schedule,” Buckley said. “But it’s also precisely why we wanted to be part of the Asian Football Confederation.
“We have regular, high quality competitive matches with real meaning and real context that fans want to see.”
Buckley said that more competitive matches for the Qantas Socceroos will lead to improved standards and greater growth and development in the game in Australia.
As with all matches in the Qantas Socceroos’ road to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the South African and Netherlands matches will both be shown live and exclusive on FOX Sports.
Australia’s current match schedule to June 2009 involves:
Date Opponent Match Location Match Type
19 August 2008 South Africa London International friendly
6 September 2008 Netherlands Eindhoven International friendly
10 September 2008 Uzbekistan Uzbekistan World Cup qualifier
15 October 2008 Qatar Australia World Cup qualifier
19 November 2008 Bahrain Bahrain World Cup qualifier
14 January 2009 Kuwait Australia Asian Cup qualifier
28 January 2009 Indonesia Indonesia Asian Cup qualifier
11 February 2009 Japan Japan World Cup qualifier
1 April 2009 Uzbekistan Australia World Cup qualifier
6 June 2009 Qatar Doha World Cup qualifier
10 June 2009 Bahrain Australia World Cup qualifier
17 June 2009 Japan Australia World Cup qualifier
Further Asian Cup qualifying games are scheduled from November 2009 through to March 2010 against Indonesia, Kuwait and Oman.
The Qantas Socceroos will meet the 2010 World Cup hosts, South Africa, in London on 19 August and the Netherlands in Eindhoven on 6 September.
“It’s all part of the road that leads to the door of the 2010 FIFA World Cup,” said FFA CEO, Ben Buckley.
“We said we would leave no stone unturned in doing everything we can off the park to help Australia qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and the same goes for the 2011 Asian Cup.
“Coach Pim Verbeek sees these two international matches as important opportunities to get the squad together and to work with the players in a match environment.”
As hosts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa is the only team guaranteed of a berth at the tournament.
“With many of South Africa’s first team players also based in England and elsewhere in Europe, meeting them in London is an efficient and valuable opportunity for both of us,” Buckley said.
The teams last met in 2005 in Durban with a 1-1 draw, but previously met in London in 2004 with Australia winning 1-0.
The Netherlands game will be played four days before Australia’s crucial World Cup qualifier against Uzbekistan on 10 September.
“It’s important that we go into the Uzbekistan game with as much preparation as possible, and playing a team which is ranked 5th in the world and made the quarter finals of Euro 2008 will give us just what we need at that time,” Buckley said.
It is also a warm-up match for the Dutch team which is set to meet Macedonia in a World Cup qualifier on 10 September, and will be the first game with new coach Bert van Marwijk in charge.
Australia has only met the Netherlands once before – in a warm-up match prior to the 2006 FIFA World Cup resulting in a 1-1 draw in a highly competitive workout for both teams.
Australia v South Africa will take place on Tuesday 19 August at Loftus Road, the home ground of Queens Park Rangers, with the kick-off time to be confirmed. Netherlands v Australia will take place at Philips Stadium, Eindhoven, on Saturday 6 September with kick-off time of 8.45pm local.
These two games bring the Qantas Socceroos’ confirmed match schedule over the next 12 months to 12 matches including two Asian Cup qualifiers.
“It’s a busy schedule,” Buckley said. “But it’s also precisely why we wanted to be part of the Asian Football Confederation.
“We have regular, high quality competitive matches with real meaning and real context that fans want to see.”
Buckley said that more competitive matches for the Qantas Socceroos will lead to improved standards and greater growth and development in the game in Australia.
As with all matches in the Qantas Socceroos’ road to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the South African and Netherlands matches will both be shown live and exclusive on FOX Sports.
Australia’s current match schedule to June 2009 involves:
Date Opponent Match Location Match Type
19 August 2008 South Africa London International friendly
6 September 2008 Netherlands Eindhoven International friendly
10 September 2008 Uzbekistan Uzbekistan World Cup qualifier
15 October 2008 Qatar Australia World Cup qualifier
19 November 2008 Bahrain Bahrain World Cup qualifier
14 January 2009 Kuwait Australia Asian Cup qualifier
28 January 2009 Indonesia Indonesia Asian Cup qualifier
11 February 2009 Japan Japan World Cup qualifier
1 April 2009 Uzbekistan Australia World Cup qualifier
6 June 2009 Qatar Doha World Cup qualifier
10 June 2009 Bahrain Australia World Cup qualifier
17 June 2009 Japan Australia World Cup qualifier
Further Asian Cup qualifying games are scheduled from November 2009 through to March 2010 against Indonesia, Kuwait and Oman.
