20 January 2009

Big night out for the round ball enthusiasts - Socceroos v. Kuwait

| johnboy
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Mr Stanhope has announced that the first Australian qualifier in the Asian Football Championship will be played here in Canberra against Kuwait.

    “Since the Socceroos’ outstanding performance at the 2006 Football World Cup, the team has captured the imagination of Australia’s sporting community and many Canberrans,” Mr Stanhope said. “We’re delighted that Canberra has been chosen for this exciting match and we look forward to working with FFA to make this event a success.

    “FFA is serious about hosting the Football World Cup in 2018 and we are equally serious about ensuring Canberra Stadium is selected as one of the host venues. This match is our opportunity to showcase Canberra Stadium as a suitable venue and demonstrate Canberra’s support for international matches. We hope to attract a crowd in excess of 20,000 for the match.

I’d also suggest that anything less than a full house will be very bad news for the A-League bid.

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I think there was a Socceroos match played back in 1996 but don’t quote me. …think you may be thinking of a Joeys game vs Tahiti?

it was a socceroos game, but yes against tahiti, and we won 4-0.

this will be a much better prepared squad, albeit filled with a-leaguers. i’ll be following their exploits in jakarta next week closely, should give us some idea of how they stack up.

I’ll consider it my homework, Swaggie!

Overheard – Just loan Granny a copy of ‘The Full Monty’ for a good explanation of the Offside trap 🙂

Granny said :

Fantastic, Overheard, thank you! Do you think I could sit with you at the game as well?

Yeah, for sure. Anyone else out there want to go as a group?

jmac said :

I think there was a Socceroos match played back in 1996 but don’t quote me.

I think you may be thinking of a Joeys game vs Tahiti? (possibly played immediately before/after a Cosmos game?). I remember there was a decent crowd out for that – around 10,000 which wasn’t too bad considering it was just youth football.

Fantastic, Overheard, thank you! Do you think I could sit with you at the game as well?

Juice Terry said :

That’s quite exciting news. Does anyone know if there’s ever been a Socceroos game in Canberra before? I know there has been youth internationals, Matildas games and the odd Olyroos friendly, but in my entire 34 years, I can’t recall a full international being played in the capital.

I think there was a Socceroos match played back in 1996 but don’t quote me.

I’ll be at this game for sure! 🙂 It is not a FIFA approved match so the big European clubs do not have to release their players, so the chances of our big guns coming back is very slim, but our lads from the A-League will do us proud and it should be a fantastic match.

If Canberra doesn’t support this and pack out Canberra Stadium then we do not deserve an A-League club…so i sure hope we fill the stadium!

I’ll be there. Granny, I’m happy to explain some of the finer points. Remind me at trivia next week and I’ll demonstrate the offside rule with a salt and pepper shaker and a couple of schooner glasses.

That’s quite exciting news. Does anyone know if there’s ever been a Socceroos game in Canberra before? I know there has been youth internationals, Matildas games and the odd Olyroos friendly, but in my entire 34 years, I can’t recall a full international being played in the capital.

Nambucco Deliria7:49 pm 20 Jan 09

what? none of the Walter Mitty brigade claiming this as a victory for the Canberra A-League bid?

I’ll be there, by the way, as I want my ten year old to experience the excitement of a competitive international match (France vs. Scotland in the RLWC didn’t really cut it, really, on the ‘competitive’ front) and I hope I’m not constantly importuned by idiots in green face make up asking me to take some sort of pledge…

i’ll be there – if as much to watch the kuwaitis, who have a few chunks of talent among their number.

btw, before that, the matildas play the italians on feb 7 at canberra stadium.

I am thinking of going along to support them even if I don’t know one end of a soccer ball from the other. It is sport, so it will be a bit of a sacrifice, but I consider it my patriotic Canberranly duty!

> The Wallabies are playing here against Italy this year as well.

Pfft….pardon me if I don’t get too excited about that match. It’s still not good enough….bloody Adelaide gets Bledisloe/Tri Nations games for f***ks sake, ADELAIDE! Then they use the “oh, we need those games to be in bigger stadiums…so bad luck Canberra, you miss out”. Hmmmm…how many can they fit into Adelaide Oval? About the same is in Canberra Stadium.

So, perhaps Australia versus Kuwait isn’t up there in international soccer, but I know nothing about international soccer…so I couldn’t tell you otherwise. I’m going to write to the ARU to let them know of my newfound spending on international soccer. 🙂

The ‘must see’ match of 09? I’ll be there, lets pray for some decent weather and get the fair weather crowd along to guarantee a packed house.

Holden Caulfield1:28 pm 20 Jan 09

Reckon I’ll tag along for this too.

I’ll be there. Can’t wait!!!

I’m there.

Yeah, I’ll be going for sure.
The Socceroos, with whichever players they choose will be a special thing to see in Canberra.

I think it’s been said in the media that this will be a mostly a-league based team. The European based players will be concentrating on the World Cup qualifiers rather than the Asian Cup – seems a bit odd to have them running at the same time.

Still, it’s a pretty big deal – especially for the a-league bid.

The Wallabies are playing here against Italy this year as well.

Cool, I’ll go to that…..soccer isn’t really my sport, but hey…the ARU & ACB continue to snub our nations capital, so I’ll give Soccer Australia my money.

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