Australia national team coach Ange Postecoglou will today confirm that Tajikistan will be the opponent when his Socceroos play a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier at Adelaide Oval next year.
The 2015 AFC Asian Cup-winning boss will announce that the Socceroos will host Tajikistan on Thursday, March 24, as exclusively revealed in the The Advertiser on November 19.
Tajikistan has posted on its official website that it will meet Australia on that date.
Postecoglou and SA tourism minister Leon Bignell will make the official announcement at 1.15pm today at Adelaide Oval.
It’s also believed the State Government has brokered a deal with the Football Federation Australia for a second World Cup qualifier before the tournament gets underway in Russia.
With the Socceroos likely to top phase two of the Asian Football Confederation qualifiers, the State Government wanted a phase three qualifying match.
This will see the Socceroos return to Adelaide before the 2018 FIFA World Cup to play one of the final five home qualifying matches, which could see Australia face one of the giants of Asia such as Japan or South Korea.
The success of the match between English premier league giant Liverpool and Adelaide United in July (won 2-0 by Liverpool), which attracted more than 53,000 fans, convinced State Government officials to lobby harder for a visit or visits by the Socceroos.
The Socceroos’ clash in SA will be part of an action-packed sporting week in Adelaide.
Three days later, Port Adelaide hosts St Kilda in the opening round of the 2016 AFL season at Adelaide Oval. Also on Sunday, March 27, Adelaide United will meet Central Coast at Coopers Stadium in an A-League match.
Australia currently tops the AFC’s World Cup Group B, after Tim Cahill jagged his second Socceroos hat-trick in a 4-0 away win over Bangladesh last month.
Australia needs to win the group or be among the best four second-place finishers in the eight groups to reach the third stage of the World Cup qualifiers.
Cahill, 35, scored his maiden hat-trick for the national team in 2004 in Adelaide at the Marden Sports Complex in a 6-1 win over Fiji in front of just 2000 fans.
The Socceroos last played a match in Adelaide at Adelaide Oval when it faced New Zealand in a friendly in 2011.
SA born striker James Troisi scored a penalty in a 3-0 win over the All Whites under then coach Holger Osieck.
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