Australian Match Officials Appointed To Upcoming F
Two of Australia's leading referees, Matthew Breeze and Mark Shield, have been appointed to officiate at next month's FIFA Confederations Cup and FIFA World Youth Championship respectively.
Breeze, along with assistant referees Matthew Cream and Jim Ouliaris, will be amongst a panel of 12 referees and 18 assistant referees at the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup to be held in Germany, June 15-29. Shield will officiate at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands along with assistant referees Nathan Gibson and Ben Wilson. The U-20 tournament will commence on June 10 and conclude on July 2.
Both referees have also been short-listed for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and are amongst a total of 46 international referees who will compete for the final 30 positions at the world's premier football tournament in June 2006.
The two referees have extensive international experience with Sydney-based Breeze, who has been a FIFA referee since 2001, featuring heavily at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship in the United Arab Emirates culminating in selection to control the prestigious 3rd place play-off match.
Brisbane-based Shield was the only Australian to officiate at the 2002 FIFA World Cup where he was the youngest referee appointed at the tournament. The 31-year-old also refereed at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup in France and the 2004 Asian Cup in China. Shield has also been the Australian referee of the year in each of the last three years.
Gibson of Taree in NSW and Adelaide-based Cream also appeared alongside Breeze at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship, while Ouliaris of Melbourne was similarly appointed alongside Shield at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. Wilson from the ACT will be appearing at his first FIFA international tournament.
The Socceroos are one of eight teams that will compete at the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup having been drawn alongside Germany, Argentina and Tunisia in Group A. Australia will feature in the opening game against host nation Germany on June 15 in Frankfurt.
The 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship will feature 24 teams with the Qantas Young Socceroos drawn against African qualifiers Benin, host nation Netherlands and Japan. All of Australia's group matches will be played in Kerkrade with Benin the first opponents on June 10.