Hyundai A-League Semi Final Week 1 Preview
All the match information for the first week of semi final action.
Hyundai A-League 2008 Minor Semi-Final (1st Leg)
Sydney FC v Queensland Roar Friday, 25 January 2008 Kick-Off 8:00pm AEDT (10:00pm NZDT, 7:30pm ACDT, 7:00pm AEST, 6:00pm AWDT) Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney Referee: Mark Shield Assistant Referees: Ben Wilson & Matthew Cream Fourth Official: Ben Williams
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: 4BC 1116 AM (Brisbane) www.4bc.com.au
Tickets: Ticketek - available via internet or phone and at the venue. Call 132 849 or visit www.ticketek.com.au
Sydney FC: 1.Clint BOLTON (gk), 2.Iain FYFE, 6.Tony POPOVIC (Captain), 7.Robbie MIDDLEBY, 8.Ruben ZADKOVICH, 10.Steve CORICA, 11.Brendon SANTALAB, 12.PATRICK, 13.Ben VIDAIC, 14.Alex BROSQUE, 15.Terry McFLYNN, 16 Mark MILLIGAN, 20.Ivan NECEVSKI (gk), 21.Adam BIDDLE, 22.JUNINHO, 23.Ufuk TALAY, 26.Brendan RENAUD, 29.Mark ROBERTSON *two to be omitted
In: Patrick (promoted), Ben Vidaic (promoted), Mark Robertson (promoted) Out: Michael Bridges (returned to Hull City after loan spell ended)
Others Unavailable: Jacob Timpano (thigh - 4 weeks), Adam Casey (leg - 4 weeks), Michael Enfield (knee - 6 months).
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, 11.REINALDO, 12.Tahj MINNIECON, 14.Ben GRIFFIN, 15.Matt McKAY, 16.Hyuk-Su SEO, 17.Mitch NICHOLS, 19.Sasa OGNENOVSKI, 22.Robbie KRUSE, 23.MARCINHO, 50.Justin PASFIELD (gk). *one to be omitted
In: Justin Pasfield (short-term injury replacement contract), Mitch Nichols (promoted), Hyuk-Su Seo (return from calf injury), Ben Griffin (promoted) Out: Danny Tiatto (suspended - 2 weeks), Marko Sutalo (released from short-term contract).
Others Unavailable: Matt Ham (shoulder injury - out for season), Stuart McLaren (ankle injury - out for season), Liam Reddy (thumb injury - 1 week)
Impending stats, facts and trivia: • Embarking on their third Hyundai A-League Finals Series, as opposed to Queensland Roar's first, Sydney FC's players have a vastly superior record in terms of Australian finals experience. Including matches played in the old NSL, the combined finals experience of Sydney FC's available squad is 145 matches, compared to just 48 previous finals matches for Queensland Roar players. Eight of Sydney's players have experienced more than six finals matches (Clint Bolton 33, Brendan Renaud 26, Robbie Middleby 14, David Zdrilic 14, Iain Fyfe 13, Steve Corica 11, Tony Popovic 8, Ufuk Talay 7), while just one Roar player (Andrew Packer 28) has played more than six finals matches. • Based on Sydney-Queensland head-to-head results over the past two seasons (4 draws in 6 matches), a draw may well be the final outcome of this fixture. In fact, the percentage of draws in the Hyundai A-League this season is the highest ever recorded in 31 regular seasons of the NSL and Hyundai A-League. Exactly one-third, or 33.3% of matches (28 out of 84) ended in draws in the Hyundai A-League 2007/08; the previous highest percentage of draws in an Australian national league season was 33.0% (1991/92 NSL). Overall, the percentage of drawn matches in NSL/Hyundai A-League regular season matches up until this season (almost 5800 matches) was 25.1%.
Hyundai A-League 2008 Major Semi-Final (1st Leg)
Newcastle Jets v Central Coast Mariners Sunday 27 January 2008 Kick-Off 6:00pm AEDT (8:00pm NZDT, 5:30pm ACDT, 5:00pm AEST, 4:00pm AWDT) EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle Referee: Matthew Breeze Assistant Referees: Nathan Gibson & Jason Power Fourth Official: James Lewis
TV: Live & Exclusive Fox Sports 1 (www.foxsports.com.au) - Match broadcast commences 5:30pm AEDT (5:00pm ACDT, 4:30pm AEST, 3:30pm AWDT). Sky Sport 1 (www.skysport.co.nz) - Match broadcast commences 8:00pm NZDT.
Radio: ABC 1233 Newcastle (1233AM) - www.abc.net.au/newcastle; Coast FM 96.3FM (Central Coast) - www.coastfm.org.au
Tickets: PROticket - available via internet or phone and at the venue. Visit www.proticket.com.au or call +61 2 4915 2345 .
Newcastle Jets Squad: 1.Ante COVIC (gk), 2.Adam GRIFFITHS, 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 (gk), 23.Jason HOFFMAN, 25.James HOLLAND, 28.Song Jin HYUNG *four to be omitted
In: Adam Griffiths (Return from Suspension), Denni (promoted), Song Jin Hyung (New Signing - Subject to Clearance), Jobe Wheelhouse (promoted) Out: Nil
Others Unavailable: Steve Eagleton (Injury - Season), Stephen Laybutt (Achilles - Season)
Central Coast Mariners Squad: 1.Matthew TROTT (gk), 2.Matt SIMON, 3.Paul O-GRADY, 5.Bradley PORTER, 6.Andre GUMPRECHT, 7.John HUTCHINSON, 10.Tom PONDELJAK, 11.Damien BROWN, 12.Greg OWENS, 13.Tony VIDMAR, 15.Andrew CLARK, 16.Nigel BOOGAARD, 18.Alex WILKINSON, 19.Adam KWASNIK, 20.Danny VUKOVIC (gk), 22.Sasho PETROVSKI, 23.Mile JEDINAK, 25.John ALOISI, 26.Alvin CECCOLI *four to be omitted
In: Paul O-GRADY (Promoted), Bradley PORTER (Promoted), Damien BROWN (Promoted), Greg OWENS (Returns from Injury) Out: Nil
Others Unavailable: Dean HEFFERNAN (Broken Leg - Season), Nik MRDJA (Knee - Season), Matthew OSMAN (Knee - Season)
Impending stats, facts and trivia In terms of previous finals experience in both the Hyundai A-League and the old NSL, the Newcastle Jets and Central Coast Mariners have overall similar records. While Newcastle can call upon more players in its squad with some form of Australian finals experience (14 Jets players have played in finals campaigns before, compared with 12 for the Mariners), the combined finals appearances of Central Coast players (175 finals matches) is actually higher than Newcastle's (128). Newcastle are entering their third Hyundai A-League final's campaign while the Mariners have been in the Finals Series just once previously.
N.B. Squads subject to change