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Central Coast Mariners FC fans forum :: Central Coast Mariners Football Club Fans Forum - Closed on 17/12/2007 - moved to http://marinators.net/forum/ :: Australian football generally - Board closed 12/12/2007 :: Socceroos dates changed.....

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Topic: Socceroos dates changed..... (Read 1,537 times)

serious14
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Socceroos dates changed.....
« Thread Started on Dec 7, 2007, 8:18pm »

http://www.theworldgame.com.au/home/index.php?pid=st&cid=101476

"The Socceroos' rocky road to South Africa has become even tougher, with FIFA and the AFC set to alter the match dates for the third stage of qualifying - meaning Pim Verbeek's side will have to play four matches in the space of just three weeks in June.

The original fixture list had a home clash with Qatar on February 6 next year, followed by a trip to China on March 26, and then double dates, home and away, in June and September.

The first two dates will remain unchanged, but the program thereafter is dramatically altered. The World Game can reveal the Socceroos will host Iraq on June 2, and then visit a venue the Iraq FA nominates, likely Jordan, the UAE or Syria, just five days later.

A week after that, on June 14, the side will travel to Qatar before returning to Australia for the final fixture on June 21.

Outside of obvious issues with travel and a hectic match program, the new fixture list also throws up several other problems - primarily asking the European-based Socceroos to largely miss their off-season for the fifth consecutive year.

Speaking to The World Game, FFA Head of High Performance John Boultbee said it's not an ideal situation, but it is still possible for the overseas players to have some time off.

"We've been working with the players to make sure they do get a decent break. The preliminary look at it indicates they'll get a bit of a break before that part of the qualifiers, but then quite a decent break when it's finished."

The English Premier League, where the majority of the squad are likely to come from, ends on May 11, meaning one issue that needs to be clarified urgently is how soon new coach Pim Verbeek would like the players in camp.

With the first two matches falling on FIFA friendly dates, it's increasingly likely a squad drawn predominantly from the A-League will be used, meaning Verbeek will have precious little time to work with his 'senior' players ahead of what's looming as a mini-tournament' in June.

"We'll go into a camp before the four matches in June. We've already done a reasonable amount of planning with Pim and we'll be discussing it further with Pim and Graham Arnold when Pim comes to Sydney on Thursday," said Boultbee.

The other main factor at play is the heat in the Middle East in June - Qatar is likely to be in the mid 40's, with the Emirates and Syria offering similar temperatures.

Socceroos defender Tony Popovic, who spent a season playing in Qatar with Al Arabi, knows just how hard the conditions will be.

"Most of the clubs travel away from the region in the middle of the year before the start of the season in September, and it really is very tough. It actually took me several months just to get used to the conditions," he said.

That, now, is just one of many challenges the FFA and Verbeek need to find a way to overcome"

This will truly show us who wants to play for the NT and who doesn't....... expect a whole lot of teeth gnashing by certain European coaches.