Australia pull out of Colombia clash

[aL3n]

Australia have pulled out of their August 17 friendly against Colombia in London.

The Dominion Post says Colombia have asked New Zealand to host them in London next month after the Aussie decision.

NZ Soccer boss Graham Seatter is considiring the proposal, which would mean the Kiwis underwriting the fixture.

[dAn]

thats stupidd, why are we pulling out?

[aL3n]

maybe coaz we are not gonne get a coach before that game? and ffa don't want to be under pressure from the media? who knows, all i know this does not make any sence. We need to play friendlys against good south american nations like colombia if we are going to quilifys for the world cup

[box]

If this is true :confused: the ffa have stuffed up again.
We now have absolutley no preperation games leading into the qualifiers.
This is a decision soley based on getting hiddink to coach us as he has stated he doesn't want to have to be involved until the qualifiers or travell all the way to australia.
This bloke wants to be a part time coach and the ffa are bending over backwards to accomadate him .
Bloody disgracefull. :mad:
Thought these guys would of been different but they seem to be making as many stupid decisions as the group they replaced.Even though they seem to be alright off feild they have shown once again when it comes to on-feild matters they have no idea.
Frank Farina was **** but atleast he was here full time and was committed to the austalian national team.With him we would have had a small chance of making it now we have none.

[southfc2002]

They are joke FFA why not play the game. We have 2 game befor the big one now and with the new coach we have no chance . Sack O.NEIL

[Melbourne Boys]

It is a big joke down at FFA headquarters

[Simon]

Any source/link for this story?

If it's true, I'm even more worried about our World Cup chances.

Still... anything can happen!

Sack O.NEIL
A bit premature, mate. We should all have faith in him as he leads us into this brave new world...

[Kieran]

Any source/link for this story?
I have a story to tell you about this Simon :)
I went the TWG to see if there was anything about this story.
There was nothing.
I went to Google news and searched and the only article that came up was this one:
http://www.tribalfootball.com/july/austnews2160705.html
Note the name of the source :rolleyes:
It seems as if BH has copied the first 2 paragraphs of a Tribal Football story and posted it on here without a source.
If Tribal Football is the only source (which it is), we are definitely still playing Colombia :)

[mahony]

Found a few other reports:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3345791a1823,00.html
http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/default.asp?id=53079&c=w

Mahony

[aL3n]

It seems as if BH has copied the first 2 paragraphs of a Tribal Football story and posted it on here without a source.
If Tribal Football is the only source (which it is), we are definitely still playing Colombia :)

yes i did copy/paste it from tribalfootball.com but i;ve seen it on other webistes and also heard it on the radio

[Clint]

According to the GGArmy forum, there has also been a freeze on the sale of tickets to this game. It ain't looking good...

[KingKewell]

I think Australia will play the game only if they can't find a team to replace them. They are contractually obliged to host a fixture with Colombia unless they can find an alternative opponent who can come in and wear some of the cost.

Bit of a mess!!!

[FMP]

Just play the friggin game FFA!

[Lizzy]

Spot on call Warrior!

It has just been confirmed on The World Game website and the FFA website:
Football Federation Australia today announced that a training camp would replace the Powerade Series match that was scheduled between the Qantas Socceroos and Colombia in London during August.

Further detail:

FFA CEO Mr John O'Neill said that discussions with the remaining candidates for the National Coach position had indicated that they would all prefer a training camp rather than a match against the South Americans. "The remaining candidates believe they will get much more value out of a training camp rather than a match," said Mr O'Neill.



"Once we reach a conclusion on who the national coach will be we can then finalise the details for the camp which will likely take place in Europe."



"I'd like to thank Fulham FC, the English FA, the Colombian FA, our partners and fans for their understanding and support."

Australia's next set of matches will be FIFA World Cup 2006 qualifiers against the Solomon Islands on September 3 and 7. Aussie Stadium in Sydney will host the Australian leg with the order of matches to be announced shortly. The winner of that series will play for a spot in the World Cup finals against the fifth ranked COMNEBOL nation during November.



The Qantas Socceroos will also play a Powerade Series match in October in London. Mr O'Neill also revealed the Qantas Socceroos may play another international during that month.



"We could potentially play another match during October as there is a FIFA double-date available and we are currently scheduled to play on only one of those dates. This will be a decision we will make in consultation with the new national coach," added Mr O'Neill.





Looks like the new coach wields enormous power even before he is appointed. Obviously didn't want to be shown up.

[Bendigo Blue]

Looks like the new coach wields enormous power even before he is appointed. Obviously didn't want to be shown up.

The word is that it is definitely Hiddink. He wanted a training camp instead of the Colombia match and also wants two London matches in October instead of one. Sounds reasonable to me.

[Victory Fan]

This is an excellent decision made by the FFA. Realistacally we would get smashed but the columbians with a new coach having no time with the team.

A training camp is definately what is needed. Hiddink will have some idea of the what formaiton and players he wants in his starting eleven. We will no doubt acheive a lot more in a 2-3 day training camp than in a friendly against our likely opposition in WCQ.

Can't really be that bad. The planning done by our WCQ opposition will now be up **** creek because we don't even know what we are doing how will they know how 2 match up against us!

[Simon]

The cancelation of this match makes me pose the question: What was the point of bringing Ron Smith in as an interum coach?

[kevin_kyle]

The cancelation of this match makes me pose the question: What was the point of bringing Ron Smith in as an interum coach?Exactly.
WHY CAN"T AUSTRALIA DO THE RIGHT THING.
Heads will roll if we miss the cup again.
This coach...as committed as he sounds...better give us a fair go.

[Kieran]

Exactly.
WHY CAN"T AUSTRALIA DO THE RIGHT THING.
Heads will roll if we miss the cup again.
This coach...as committed as he sounds...better give us a fair go.
They have done the right thing :cool:
What have they done lately that hasn't been right? :confused:
It's much more important that Hiddink establishes a rapport with the players at a training camp than just after introducing himself, they get walloped by Colombia.

[Victory4sure]

I heard on SBS it was a tactical move by the FFA to not play Columbia. The FFA suspected the Columbians would have fielded a second or third rate team for the practice match. Secondly they would have had a good look at our strengths and weaknesses as we would have probably fielded close to a full strength team. Australia would not get much out of this match other than another run on the park. The training camp is a better option.....especially if we do end up playing Columbia for a WC spot.