Qantas Socceroos FIFA World Cup Squad Announcement

Head Coach Pim Verbeek has announced his preliminary squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup

Qantas Socceroos Head Coach Pim Verbeek today announced his preliminary squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ which begins in South Africa next month.

Qantas Airways CEO Alan Joyce and FFA CEO Ben Buckley were also on hand at today-s unveiling which occurred at the Qantas Jet Base in Sydney in front of the “Qantas Socceroos” Boeing 747 aircraft which will fly the team to Johannesburg for the tournament.

Fourteen of the players selected were involved in the Qantas Socceroos 2006 FIFA World Cup™ campaign including the captain Lucas Neill, Michael Beauchamp, Mark Bresciano, Tim Cahill, Scott Chipperfield, Jason Culina, Brett Emerton, Vincenzo Grella, Joshua Kennedy, Mark Milligan, Craig Moore Harry Kewell Mark Schwarzer, and Luke Wilkshire.

It will potentially be the first FIFA World Cup™ finals appearance for Nick Carle, David Carney, Adam Federici, Richard Garcia, James Holland, Brett Holman, Mile Jedinak, Brad Jones, Shane Lowry, Jade North, Scott McDonald, Nikita Rukavytsya, Carl Valeri, Dario Vidosic, Rhys Williams and 18-year old Tommy Oar who was the NAB Young Footballer of the Year at the conclusion of the Hyundai A-League 2009/10 season.

Although not officially included in the list of 30-names that will be submitted to FIFA, Adelaide United-s Eugene Galekovic will also join the squad as a stand-by goal keeper.

As per FIFA regulations, Verbeek will name his final squad of 23 players on Saturday 1st June in South Africa.

The Qantas Socceroos will assemble in Melbourne on Wednesday 19th May to commence their preparations for their farewell match against the New Zealand All Whites at the MCG on Monday 24th May.

The Qantas Socceroos will then depart for Johannesburg on Wednesday 26th May on the special Qantas “Socceroos” Boeing 747 flight out of Melbourne.

As part of their final preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, the Qantas Socceroos will play international friendly matches against Denmark and the United States of America (USA) on the 1st and 5th June, respectively, at Ruimsig Stadium near Johannesburg.

The Qantas Socceroos have been drawn in Group D for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ and will face Germany in their opening match of the tournament on Sunday 13th June in Durban, followed by matches against Ghana on Saturday 19th June and then Serbia on Wednesday 23rd June.

Should the Qantas Socceroos place in the top two positions of Group D at the end of the first phase of the competition, they will play their next opponent from Group C (England, USA, Algeria or Slovenia) in the Round of 16 on either Saturday 26th June (Rustenburg) or Sunday 27th June (Mangaung/Bloemfontein).

The Quarter Finals of the tournament will be held on the 2nd and 3rd July with the Semi Finals on the 6th and 7th July and the Final to be played on the 11th July.

Preliminary squad in full

Michael BEAUCHAMP (Al-Jazira Club, UAE) Mark BRESCIANO (U.S. Citta di Palermo, Italy) Tim CAHILL (Everton FC, England) Nick CARLE (Crystal Palace, England) David CARNEY (FC Twente, Netherlands) Scott CHIPPERFIELD (FC Basel, Switzerland) Jason CULINA (Gold Coast United, Australia) Brett EMERTON (Blackburn Rovers, England) Adam FEDERICI (Reading FC, England) Eugene GALEKOVIC* (Adelaide United, Australia) Richard GARCIA (Hull City, England) Vincenzo GRELLA (Blackburn Rovers, England) James HOLLAND (AZ Alkmaar, Netherlands) Brett HOLMAN (AZ Alkmaar, Netherlands) Mile JEDINAK (Antalyaspor Kulubu, Turkey) Brad JONES (Middlesbrough FC, England) Josh KENNEDY (Nagoya Grampus, Japan) Harry KEWELL (Galatasaray SK, Turkey) Shane LOWRY (Aston Villa FC, England) Scott MCDONALD (Middlesbrough FC, England) Mark MILLIGAN (JEF United, Japan) Craig MOORE (Uncontracted) Lucas NEILL (Galatasaray SK, Turkey) Jade NORTH (Tromsø, Norway) Tom OAR (FC Utrecht, Netherlands) Nikita RUKAVYTSYA (FC Twente, Netherlands) Mark SCHWARZER (Fulham FC, England) Carl VALERI (U.S. Sassuolo Calcio, Italy) Dario VIDOSIC (FC Nurnberg, Germany) Luke WILKSHIRE (FK Dinamo Moscow, Russia) Rhys WILLIAMS (Middlesbrough FC, England)