THE SOCCEROO

There are just eight months to go until the Qantas Socceroos take part in the biggest sporting event on the planet: the 2010 FIFA World Cup. A surprise guest four years ago in Germany, Australia was one of the earliest confirmed participants this time, booking its ticket to South Africa in June after cruising through the final stage of Asian qualifying. The Socceroos face a tough schedule in coming months as the race for places on the plane to South Africa heats up.

Top of the schedule is the Netherlands on Saturday, October 10, followed by an Asian Cup qualifier against Oman four days later.

Both matches will be previewed in the latest issue of The Socceroo. The Slattery Media Group is the publisher of The Socceroo, the match-day magazine for Australia’s home internationals. This issue, Jason Culina explains his decision to move back to his home country and join Gold Coast United, coach Pim Verbeek gives his highlights from almost two years in charge, and there are interviews with Socceroos stars David Carney and Scott McDonald.

The Socceroo will be on sale at Sydney Football Stadium on October 10 for Australia v The Netherlands, and at Etihad Stadium on October 14 for Australia v Oman.