Football Federation Australia (FFA) today received confirmation from FIFA that the Qantas Olyroos’ upcoming Preliminary Round 2 matches of the 2012 London Olympics Asian Qualifiers will be played at Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford and Ausgrid Stadium, Newcastle on Sunday 19 June and Thursday 23 June respectively.
Football Federation Australia (FFA) today received confirmation from FIFA that the Qantas Olyroos’ upcoming Preliminary Round 2 matches of the 2012 London Olympics Asian Qualifiers will be played at Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford and Ausgrid Stadium, Newcastle on Sunday 19 June and Thursday 23 June respectively.
The circumstances that led to this decision being made began from 30 March when the draw was conducted at AFC house. When it was learned that the Qantas Olyroos were to face Yemen in the two-legged fixture, FFA received advice from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade that it was not advisable to travel to Yemen due to the exceptional security concerns currently associated with travel to that country. Due to this advice, FFA made an offer to the Yemen FA for FFA to host both matches in Australia, which the Yemen FA agreed to. This mutual agreement was then subsequently ratified by FIFA.
Qantas Olyroos Head Coach Aurelio Vidmar was very pleased that a satisfactory resolution had been made in regard to the scheduling of these important matches.
“Obviously we are really happy with this outcome in light of the current situation in Yemen,” said Vidmar.
“It was always our preference to play both matches in Australia to avoid unnecessary travel where possible.”
“FFA has done a tremendous job in negotiating this outcome and we thank Yemen for agreeing to this offer.”
In addition, Vidmar today also announced his 21-player squad that will be involved in these two matches.
Led by Central Coast local Oliver Bozanic, 17 members of the squad recently toured Japan to play a friendly match against the Japanese U-22 National Team in Niigata.
Scottish-based midfielder Aaron Mooy is an addition to the squad along with Qantas Young Socceroos Mustafa Amini, Kofi Danning and goalkeeper Mark Birighitti.
Vidmar believes that the squad that he has selected will be able to get the result needed to progress to the next stage of the competition.
“I was really pleased with elements of our recent trip to Japan, but there are still parts to work on.”
“Aaron Mooy comes into the squad to help bolster our midfield, Mark Birighitti was a late inclusion for Alex Cisak who got injured recently and Musti and Kofi were added to give us a couple of extra creative and attacking options.”
“We will have a good week in camp with a training match against Singapore; I believe that we will be ready for Yemen.”
The Qantas Olyroos need to win these two matches on aggregate to progress to the next round of qualification which sees the 12 winners from Round 2 divided into three groups of four teams each.
The teams in each group will then play in a home-and-away format from 21 September 2011, to 14 March 14, 2012, with the winner of each group directly qualifying for the London 2012 Olympic Games Football competition.
The three second-placed teams from the third round will clash in a playoff at a centralised venue from March 25 to 29, 2012, and the winners of this group will meet the representatives of CAF (Africa) for a berth in the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The Qantas Olyroos will assemble in camp on Friday 10 June and will play a behind closed doors training match against Singapore on Sunday 12 June in the lead up to their two matches against Yemen.
Ticketing details for the Preliminary Round 2 – 2012 London Olympic Games Asian Qualification Matches between the Qantas Olyroos and Yemen will be announced shortly.
Qantas Olyroos Squad List
Preliminary Round 2 – 2012 London Olympic Games Asian Qualification Matches – 19 & 23 June 2011
Mustafa Amini
Central Coast Mariners
Aziz Behich
Melbourne Heart
Mark Birighitti (gk)
Adelaide United
Dean Bouzanis (gk)
uncontracted
Oliver Bozanic
Central Coast Mariners
Isaka Cernak
Melbourne Victory
Kofi Danning
uncontracted
Diogo Ferreira
Melbourne Victory
Matthew Foschini
Melbourne Victory
Jason Hoffman
Melbourne Heart
Marko Jesic
Newcastle Jets
Matthew Jurman
Brisbane Roar
Ryan McGowan
Hearts FC, Scotland
Tahj Minniecon
Gold Coast United
Aaron Mooy
St Mirren, Scotland
Scott Neville
Perth Glory
Mitch Nichols
Brisbane Roar
Mirjan Pavlovic
Wellington Phoenix
Andrew Redmayne (gk)
Brisbane Roar
Sebastian Ryall
Sydney FC
Rocco Visconte
Brisbane Roar
As at 6 June 2011
Upcoming Match Details
Qantas Olyroos v Singapore
Sunday 12 June 2011
Training Match – No Public Access. Media access only Bluetongue Stadium Kick Off: 2:00pm
First leg – Preliminary Round 2 of 2012 London Olympics Asian Qualifiers Qantas Olyroos v Yemen Sunday 19 June 2011 Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford Kick Off: 3:00pm
Second leg – Preliminary Round 2 of 2012 London Olympics Asian Qualifiers
Qantas Olyroos v Yemen
Thursday 23 June 2011
Ausgrid Stadium, Newcastle
Kick Off: 6.30pm
