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Farina names preliminary squad for Confederations Cup qualifiers.
Frank Farina yesterday named a 25 man squad, which will be culled to 18 to 20 players, to face the Solomon Islands in the two legged playoff as they endevour to reach the Confederations Cup in Germany next year.
The squad is at full strength after assessing players that attended a four-day camp during the international weekend recently. Ante Milicic, Simon Colosimo and Leicester's Danny Tiatto made the squad despite being unable to attend the camp due to club commitments.
However the likes of Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka, Tim Cahill and Marco Bresciano have all been included and will be expected to make the final squad.
The winner of the two match series will go to the Confederations Cup to take on the likes of Brazil, Germany, Argentina and Mexico. Greece, Japan and Tunisia will also prove worthy adversaries for the Socceroos should they qualify. Fraina knows all too well how important qualification is for the national team's World Cup hopes.
"These are hugely important matches for us and we will be ensuring we put the best team on the paddock," Farina said. "The chance to qualify for the Confederations Cup and get quality matches ... is vitally important to our chances of World Cup qualification so we won't be taking any chances. I don't think any players will have trouble being motivated for these games." (www.australiansoccer.com.au)
The Solomons, who shocked New Zealand by progressing ahead of the traditional second team in Oceania, will host the first leg in what is expected to be a warm afternoon. The match will kickoff at 2 pm local time (1 pm AEST) on October 9th. The return leg will be in slightly cooler conditions. The 7:30 pm kickoff in Sydney on October 12 will provide a welcome atmosphere for the European based Socceroos.
On weather or not some big name players will be released should Australia take a big lead into the second leg, Farina was definate on his stance, stating that the squad will stay together.
25-man preliminary squad:
John Aloisi
Eddy Bosnar
Marco Bresciano
Tim Cahill
Scott Chipperfield
Simon Colosimo
Ahmad Elrich
Brett Emerton
Vince Grella
Zeljko Kalac (gk)
Harry Kewell
Steve Laybutt
Stan Lazaridis
Ante Milicic
Craig Moore
Kevin Muscat
Lucas Neill
Tony Popovic
Mark Schwarzer (gk)
Josip Skoko
Mile Sterjovski
Danny Tiatto
Tony Vidmar
Mark Viduka
Max Vieri
15 September, 2004 |
