Hyundai A-League Round 20 Preview
All the team news and match information for Round 20
Melbourne Victory v Wellington Phoenix Friday, 11 January 2008 Kick-Off 8:00pm AEDT (10:00pm NZDT, 7:30pm ACDT, 7:00pm AEST, 6:00pm AWDT) Telstra Dome, Melbourne Referee: Peter Green Assistant Referees: Hakan Anaz & Luke Brennan Fourth Official: Kevin Docherty
TV: Live & Exclusive Fox Sports 1 (www.foxsports.com.au) - Match broadcast commences 7:30pm AEDT (7:00pm ACDT, 6:30pm AEST, 5:30pm AWDT). Sky Sport 1 (www.skysport.co.nz) - Match broadcast commences 10:00pm NZDT.
Radio: SEN1116 (Melbourne) 1116am - www.sen.com.au
Tickets: Ticketmaster - available via internet or phone and at the venue. Visit www.ticketmaster.com.au or call 136 100.
Melbourne Victory Squad: 1.Michael THEOKLITOS (gk), 2.Kevin MUSCAT (Captain), 6.Steve PANTELIDIS, 7.Matthew KEMP, 9.Daniel ALLSOPP, 10.Archie THOMPSON, 12.Rodrigo VARGAS, 13.Kaz PATAFTA, 14.Adrian CACERES, 15.Leandro LOVE, 16. Carlos HERNANDEZ, 17.Daniel VASILEVSKI, 18.Leigh BROXHAM, 19.Evan BERGER, 21.Sebastian RYALL, 22.Nick WARD, 24.Steven PACE, 30.Mitchell LANGERAK (gk). *three to be omitted
In: Steve Pantelidis (promoted), Leandro Love (promoted), Evan Berger (promoted) Out: Nil
Others Unavailable: Daniel Piorkowski (shoulder - 4 weeks), Ljubo Milicevic (knee - 2 weeks), Joseph Keenan (groin - 1 week), Grant Brebner (groin - 4 weeks)
Wellington Phoenix Squad: 1.Mark PASTON (gk), 2.Jeremy CHRISTIE, 5.Karl DODD, 6.Tim BROWN (Captain), 8.Vaughan COVENY, 9.Shane SMELTZ, 10.Michael FERRANTE, 11.DANIEL, 14.Steven O-DOR, 16.Kristian REES, 17.Vince LIA, 18.Ahmad ELRICH, 19.Greg DRAPER, 20.Glen MOSS (gk), 21.FELIPE.
In: Tim Brown (return from Suspension), Vince Lia (Return From Suspension), Daniel (Return From Suspension) Out: Tony Lochhead (Suspended - 1 Week), Ross Aloisi (Suspended - 1 Week), Richard Johnson (Suspended - 1 Week), Steven Old (Omitted), Royce Brownlie (omitted)
Others Unavailable: Nil
Impending stats, facts and trivia: - Melbourne Victory will be aiming to become the first team to score 100 Hyundai A-League goals. Following the Victory's 2-1 win over Queensland in Round 19, the current Champions have scored 99 goals in 64 games to date. Closely following Melbourne in terms of total number of Hyundai A-League goals scored are Adelaide United (68 games) and Sydney FC (66 games), who have both scored an aggregate 97 goals. - The Victory also lead the way in terms of all-time average number of goals scored per game with 1.57, followed by Sydney FC (1.47 goals per game) and Adelaide United (1.43). - Meanwhile, 50 Hyundai A-League appearances beckons for Melbourne Victory goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos and Wellington Phoenix midfielder Richard Johnson.
Central Coast Mariners v Newcastle Jets Saturday, 12 January 2008 Kick-Off 7:00pm AEDT (9:00pm NZDT, 6:30pm ACDT, 6:00pm AEST, 5:00pm AWDT) Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford Referee: Matthew Breeze Assistant Referees: Ben Wilson & Gavin Martin Fourth Official: Strebre Delovski
TV: Live & Exclusive Fox Sports1 (www.foxsports.com.au) - Match broadcast commences 7:00pm AEDT (6:30pm ACDT, 6:00pm AEST, 5:00pm AWDT). Sky Sport 2 (www.skysport.co.nz) - Match broadcast commences 9:00NZDT.
Radio: Coast FM 96.3FM (Central Coast) - www.coastfm.org.au; ABC 1233 Newcastle (1233AM) - www.abc.net.au/newcastle
Tickets: Ticketek - available via internet or phone and at the venue. Visit www.ticketek.com.au or call 132 849
Central Coast Mariners Squad: 1.Matthew TROTT (gk), 2.Matt SIMON, 3.Paul O-GRADY, 6.Andre GUMPRECHT, 7.John HUTCHINSON, 10.Tom PONDELJAK, 12.Greg OWENS, 13.Tony VIDMAR, 15.Andrew CLARK, 16.Nigel BOOGAARD, 18.Alex WILKINSON (Captain), 19.Adam KWASNIK, 20.Danny VUKOVIC (gk), 22.Sasho PETROVSKI, 23.Mile JEDINAK, 25.John ALOISI, 26.Alvin CECCOLI. *two to be omitted
In: Tony Vidmar (Returns from Suspension), Andrew Clark (Returns from Suspension) Out: Nil
Others Unavailable: Nik Mrdja (Knee - Season), Matthew Osman (Knee - Season), Dean Heffernan (Broken Leg - Season)
Newcastle Jets Squad: 1.Ante COVIC (GK), 3.Jade NORTH (Captain), 5.Stuart MUSIALIK, 6.Andrew DURANTE, 8.Matt THOMPSON, 9.Joel GRIFFITHS, 10.Denni, 11.Tarek ELRICH, 13.Adam D-APUZZO, 14.Jobe WHEELHOUSE, 15.Scott TUNBRIDGE, 17.Troy HEARFIELD, 18.Noel SPENCER, 19.Mark BRIDGE, 20.Ben KENNEDY, 23.Jason HOFFMAN, 25.James HOLLAND. *two to be omitted
In: Troy Hearfield (promoted), Denni (promoted), Jobe Wheelhouse (promoted) Out: Adam Griffiths (suspended - 2 weeks)
Others Unavailable: Steve Eagleton (Knee injury - possibly season), Steve Laybutt (illness - indefinite)
Impending stats, facts and trivia - With 4 wins and 3 losses in their 8 home games to date, the Central Coast Mariners are the only team to have won more matches than lost in the Hyundai A-League 2007/08 season so far. With more home wins than home losses, the Mariners have buckled a bizarre trend of away teams having won more matches than home teams in the Hyundai A-League this season; after Round 19, away teams have won 28 times compared to just 22 wins for home teams (i.e. away teams have won 56% of non-drawn matches). - To give an indication of the unique nature of away teams winning more than home teams, it is worth noting that in 108 seasons of professional football in England - with up to four divisions per season - the number of away wins has never come close to matching the number of home wins in a complete league season. The closest that away teams came to matching the number of home team wins in a complete English league season was in Division Three 1993-94, when away teams won 42.9% of non-drawn games (144 away wins compared to 192 home wins).
Queensland Roar v Sydney FC Sunday, 13 January 2008 Kick-Off 6:00pm AEST (9:00pm NZDT, 7:00pm AEDT, 6:30pm ACDT, 5:00pm AWDT) Suncorp Stadium, Queensland Referee: Mark Shield Assistant Referees: Jason Power & Denis Silk Fourth Official: Chris Beath
TV: Live & Exclusive Fox Sports 2 (www.foxsports.com.au) - Match broadcast commences 6:30pm AEDT (6:00pm ACDT, 5:30pm AEST, 4:30pm AWDT). Sky Sport 1 (www.skysport.co.nz) - Match broadcast commences 9:00pm NZDT.
Tickets: Ticketek - available via internet or phone and at the venue. Call 132 849 or visit www.ticketek.com.au
Queensland Roar Squad: 30.Griffin McMASTER (gk), 2.Andrew PACKER, 4.Craig MOORE (Captain), 5.Josh McCLOUGHAN, 7.Michael ZULLO, 8.Massimo MURDOCCA, 9.Simon LYNCH, 12.Tahj MINNIECON, 13.Zoran PETREVSKI, 14.Ben GRIFFIN, 15.Matt McKAY,17.Mitch NICHOLS, 18.Danny TIATTO,19. Sasa OGNENOVSKI, 21.Chris GROSSMAN, 22.Robbie KRUSE, 23.MARCINHO, 40.Marko SUTALO. *three to be omitted
In: Michael Zullo (return from thigh injury), Mitch Nichols (promoted), Danny Tiatto (return from hamstring/back injury), Craig Moore (return from suspension), Zoran Petrevski (promoted). Out: Reinaldo (suspended - 1 week), Hyuk-Su Seo (calf injury - 2 weeks)
Others Unavailable: Matt Ham (shoulder injury - out for season), Stuart McLaren (ankle injury - 2 weeks), Liam Reddy (thumb injury - 2 weeks)
Sydney FC Squad: 1.Clint BOLTON (gk), 2.Iain FYFE, 6.Tony POPOVIC (Captain), 7.Robbie MIDDLEBY, 8.Ruben ZADKOVICH, 10.Steve CORICA, 11.Brendon SANTALAB, 14.Alex BROSQUE, 15.Terry McFLYNN, 16 Mark MILLIGAN, 20.Ivan NECEVSKI (gk), 21.Adam BIDDLE, 22.JUNINHO, 23.Ufuk TALAY, 26.Brendan RENAUD, 28.Brendan RENAUD. *one to be omitted
In: Mark Milligan (returns from injury), Michael Bridges (promoted) Out: Nikolas Tsattalios (Omitted), Ben Vidaic (Omitted)
Others Unavailable: Jacob Timpano (thigh - 4 weeks), Adam Casey (leg - 4 weeks), Michael Enfield (knee - 6 months).
Impending stats, facts and trivia Sydney FC will be aiming to secure a record 10th consecutive away result in the Hyundai A-League. The last time Sydney lost away was a 2-0 defeat to Newcastle in the Hyundai A-League 2007 Minor Semi-Final Second Leg (2-Feb-07). Sydney's current record undefeated away run of nine matches equals the nine-match undefeated away streak record set by Melbourne Victory between September 2006 and January 2007.
Perth Glory v Adelaide United Sunday, 13 January 2008 Kick-Off 7:00pm AWDT (11:00pm NZDT, 9:00pm AEDT, 8:30pm ACDT, 8:00pm AEST) Members Equity Stadium, Perth Referee: Ben Williams Assistant Referees: Michael Nugus & Mathew Cheeseman Fourth Official: Steven Gregory
TV: Live & Exclusive Fox Sports 2 (www.foxsports.com.au) - Match broadcast commences 9:00pm AEDT (8:30pm ACDT, 8:00pm AEST, 7:00pm AWDT), Sky Sport 1 (www.skysport.co.nz) - Match broadcast commences 11:00pm NZDT.
Radio: 6PR 882AM (Perth) www.mytalk.com.au; SportFM (Perth); 90.5FM www.905.com.au; Fresh FM (Adelaide) 92.7FM www.freshfm.com.au
Tickets: Ticketmaster - available via internet or phone and at the venue. Visit www.ticketmaster.com.au or call 136100.
Perth Glory Squad: 1.Jason PETKOVIC (gk), 2.Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY, 4.Simon COLOSIMO (Captain), 5.Jamie HARNWELL, 6.Dino DJULBIC, 8.David MICEVSKI, 10.Billy CELESKI, 11.Stan LAZARIDIS, 13.Nikita RUKAVYTSYA, 14.Jamie COYNE, 16.Nick RIZZO, 17.Jimmy DOWNEY, 18.Hayden FOXE, 19.Naum SEKULOVSKI, 21.James ROBINSON, 22.Jerry KARPEH, 25.Tyler SIMPSON, 30.Tando VELAPHI (gk). *three to be omitted
In: Dino Djublic (return from injury), David Micevski (promoted), Jerry Karpeh (promoted), Tyler Simpson (promoted) Out: Leo Bertos (suspended - 1 match)
Others Unavailable: David Tarka (hamstring - season), Mitchell Prentice (knee - 1 week)
Adelaide United Squad: 50.Eugene GALEKOVIC (gk), 2.Richie ALAGICH, 3.Milan SUSAK, 4.Angelo COSTANZO, 6.CASSIO, 7.Lucas PANTELIS, 10.Nathan BURNS, 11.Bruce DJITE, 12.Matthew MULLEN, 13.Travis DODD (Captain), 15.Jonas SALLEY, 16.Bobby PETTA, 17.Isyan ERDOGAN, 18.Robert CORNTHWAITE, 20.Robert BAJIC (gk), 21.Jason SPAGNUOLO, 22.DIEGO, 23.Dez GIRALDI. *three to be omitted
In: Cassio (returns from suspension), Robert Cornthwaite (returns from suspension), Nathan Burns (returns from injury), Dez Giraldi (returns from illness)
Out: Fabian Barbiero (suspended - 1 week)
Others Unavailable: Paul Agostino (quad - 4 weeks), Kristian Sarkies (DVT - Indefinite), Shaun Ontong (ankle - season), Michael Valkanis (knee - season)
Impending stats, facts and trivia Perth Glory midfielder Simon Colosimo, who took part in this week's Socceroos training camp in Sydney, is set to make his 50th Hyundai A-League appearance.
N.B. Squads subject to change