The Australian Soccer Association (ASA) today announced that it has secured two matches for the Socceroos against South Africa, with the first match in London, England on Tuesday 30 March 2004 and then an agreement to again play
the ‘Bafana Bafana’ in South Africa on Wednesday 9 February 2005.
The Socceroos, led by coach Frank Farina will be playing their second match in 2004, following on from the game against Venezuela in Caracas on Wednesday 18 February. Nicknamed Bafana Bafana (‘The Boys’), South Africa will provide the Socceroos with a style of football from another rising football continent, and the South African community in London will match the Green and Gold army for vocal support.
The Socceroos have played South Africa 17 times at senior international level between 1947 and 1996, winning only 5 times with 1 draw and 11 losses. The last match against South Africa was on 18 September 1996 in Johannesburg, with the Bafana Bafana winning 2-0.
ASA would like to acknowledge the support of The Football Association (The FA, England) for their approval of the scheduled match in London during the FIFA international match week.
ASA has been working extensively to coordinate a very vibrant international match calendar for 2004 for the Socceroos, with the Green and Gold scheduled to appear in at least 12 matches this year, including two home
internationals in May. All Socceroo matches will be played on the approved FIFA international match dates (calendar available on www.fifa.com ), or
click on the following link: –
http://images.fifa.com/calendar/calendar_2004_2008_E.pdf
The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) has also confirmed the dates for the 2004 OFC Nations Cup, which will be held in Australia (city and venue TBC) during 28 May – 8 June. The tournament will group the top two Oceania seeds (Australia and New Zealand) with the top 4 qualifiers from the OFC Preliminary Tournament. From the ensuing round robin matches in May/June, the top two teams in the OFC Nations Cup will then play-off in October 2004 in an home-and-away play-off to determine the OFC Nations Cup winner and the resultant AFC/OFC Challenge Cup representative and 2005 FIFA Confederation Cup (OFC) representative. The same top two teams will then contest the OFC World Cup qualifying play-off in another home-and-away series in October 2005, with the winner to play the fifth-placed South American team for the right to play in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
For more details contact:
Gary Moretti
Communications Department
AUSTRALIAN SOCCER ASSOCIATION
Level 3, East Stand, Telstra Stadium
Edwin Flack Ave, HOMEBUSH BAY NSW 2127
(PO Box 6038, SILVERWATER NSW 1811)
Ph – (61) 02 9739 5516
Fax – (61) 02 9739 5590
Mob – (61) 0412 163 093
Email – nslmedia@ozemail.com.au
or check out www.australiansoccer.com.au