Qantas Australian Men's Beach Football team eye qualifiers

The Qantas Australian Men's Beach Football Team are looking forward to face Iran this Saturday in their opening match of FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2009 Asian Qualifiers (3:00pm local, 10:00pm AEDT).

The Qantas Australian Men's Beach Football Team are looking forward to face Iran this Saturday in their opening match of FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2009 Asian Qualifiers (3:00pm local, 10:00pm AEDT).

Head Coach Airton Andrioli has had two friendly matches against the African Beach Soccer Champions Nigeria and fellow Asian Nation Bahrain to fine tune his squad since arriving in the Middle East on Monday.

Although the Qantas Australian Men's Beach Football Team were narrowly defeated in each match 3-5 and 3-4 respectively, Andrioli believes that his team is ready for the tournament.

"Before we arrived here (in Dubai) we hadn't played a competitive or friendly game together as a team.

"Since arriving we have played two matches against quality opposition and did quite well in each.

"Of course we made mistakes, but each time we have learnt from those mistakes and have improved accordingly.

"Our confidence has also increased as a result and the players are now ready for the start of the tournament.

"We will be looking to continue to do the things that we do well for our opening match against Iran on Saturday and get off to a good start", concluded Andrioli.

The Qantas Australian Men's Beach Football Team will have their final training session at the match venue this afternoon (local time) and will play their opening group match of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2009 Asian Qualifiers against Iran on Saturday, followed by China PR on Sunday and Oman on Monday (All kick-off times 3:00pm local, 10:00pm AEDT).

The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2009 Asian Qualifiers will be played in Dubai from 7 to 11 November 2009, with the top two teams from each group progressing to the semi-finals phase, with the winners of the semi-finals advancing to the final and will also qualify for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2009.

The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2009 will be played in Dubai from 16 to 22 November 2009 and involves 16 nations including United Arab Emirates, Portugal, Uruguay, Solomon Islands, Spain, Côte d'Ivoire, El Salvador, Russia, Costa Rica, Argentina, Italy, Brazil, Nigeria and Switzerland.

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2009 Asian Qualifiers Jumeirah Beach, Dubai, United Arab Emirates 7-11 November 2009

Group A Group B Japan Iran Bahrain China Uzbekistan Oman *UAE/France Australia * UAE and France will play friendly matches against the Group A team who will not play

Fixture GROUP STAGE Sat 07/11/09 1 2 3:00pm China v Oman Sat 07/11/09 2 3 3:00pm Australia v Iran Sat 07/11/09 3 2 Followed by Bahrain v Uzbekistan Sat 07/11/09 4 3 Followed by UAE v Japan Sun 08/11/09 5 2 3:00pm Iran v Oman Sun 08/11/09 6 3 3:00pm China v Australia Sun 08/11/09 7 2 Followed by Bahrain v UAE Sun 08/11/09 8 3 Followed by Japan v Uzbekistan Mon 09/11/09 9 2 3:00pm Oman v Australia Mon 09/11/09 10 3 3:00pm Iran v China Mon 09/11/09 11 2 Followed by Uzbekistan v France Mon 09/11/09 12 3 Followed by Japan v Bahrain

SEMI FINALS Tue 10/11/09 13 2 3:00pm 1st Group B v 2nd Group A Tue 10/11/09 14 2 Followed by 1st Group A v 2nd Group B

FINALS Wed 11/11/09 3rd/4th Play-Off Stadium 4:00pm Loser Match 13 v Loser Match 14 Wed 11/11/09 Final Stadium Followed by Winner Match 13 v Winner Match 14

For more information regarding the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2009 Asian Qualifiers please visit www.beachsoccer.com

Qantas Australian Men-s Beach Football Squad FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2009 Asian Qualifiers Jumeirah Beach, Dubai, United Arab Emirates 7-11 November 2009.

Stacy Alogdellis PCYC Parramatta Eagles Jim Bakis Sutherland Sharks Jonathon Cook South Adelaide Panthers Peter Crevani St George Joshua Da Palma Uncontracted Ivo De Jesus Inter Lions Steve Karavatakis Sutherland Sharks Andrew Mailer Manly United Danny Martinez Sydney Wanderers Michael Matricciani Campbelltown City Khalil Popal Uncontracted George Souris Sutherland Sharks