Written by Greg Stock, Thomas Esamie and Nick Guoth. For more details see credits.
| In preparation for the 3 match series against the Brazilian Olympic team in March Raul Blanco organised some trial games to test the squad of 30 Olyroo hopefuls mainly to trim it down to something more manageable. | ||||
| Played : January 27 | Venue : AIS fields, Canberra | |||
| Australia Lineup unknown Goals : Zeljko Susa x2, Wayne Knipe |
3 | - | 0 | Australian Institute of Sport Lineup unknown |
| Referee : Crowd : Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), | ||||
|
In this game Ivan Zelic injured his ankle, with a fracture, playing
in this game and will take months to recover. Some notes from Nick Guoth Zane and Buljan looked out of place. Susa played very well and certainly looked the best of the five attackers to show themselves. Curcija was probably second best. Midfield was a bit raw and needs to spend a little more time together to know more about themselves. Defence is solid throughout although they found the wrong time to lapse when Musi scored - he was one on one when left free. One player that was one of the best last night, was on the Canberra side and not the Olyroos side. I guess, he did what he should have, and that is impress Raul. That person was Lindsay Wilson. Continuously he outplayed his opponent, winning the ball in tackles and giving great distribution. He played the second last pass in the goal. Don't be surprised when he finally gets his call up. | ||||
| Played : January 28 | Venue : AIS fields, Canberra | |||
| Australia Lineup unknown |
0 | - | 1 | Canberra Cosmos Lineup unknown Goal : Michael Musitano 88 |
| Referee : Crowd : Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), | ||||
| The Olympic side won this final hitout in the series and gave him a clearer view of who would progress further on the "Olympic Journey". | ||||
| Played : January 29 | Venue : AIS fields, Canberra | |||
| Australia Lineup unknown Goals : Wayne Knipe x2, Travis Dodd, og |
4 | - | 2 | ACT Rockets Lineup unknown Goals : Joe Campagna x2 |
| Referee : Crowd : Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), | ||||
| As part of the Albury festival of sport the Olyroos week long training camp included this match against the Carlton side from the NSL who fielded a youth side. One assumes there were other games played but records are of course non-existant. | ||||
| Played : February 25 | Venue : Albury | |||
| Australia Lineup unknown Goals : Don't know those either |
2 | - | 0 | Carlton Youth Team Lineup includes Marcus Stergiopoulos, Robert Trajkovski |
| Referee : Crowd : Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), | ||||
| Everything about this game was unexpected. The crowd, the result, the level of play....very impressive. However while these are important games (as all games against Brazil are) they served mainly to test the Olympic squad 2 years out from the next competitive game they'll play. | ||||
| Played : March 21 | Venue : Parramatta Stadium, Sydney | |||
| Australia Danny Milosevic, Brett Emerton (c), Bill Damianos (Jason Culina 56), Raphael Bove, Clayton Zane (Christian Care 78), Nick Carle (Michael Curcija 56), Con Blatsis, Simon Colosimo, Vincent Grella, Nick Rizzo (Dragi Nastevski 88), Jacob Burns Goals : Emerton 6, Curcija 69 |
2 | - | 1 | Brazil Fabio, Fernando, Matuzalem, Felipe Alvim, Fernando Santos, Rodrigo, Rodrigo Lacerda Ramos "Ferrugem" (c), Gustavo, Luiz Claudio (Thiago 66), Eriberto (Marcelo Rocha 83), Marco Antonio (Edu 46) Goal : Eriberto 31 |
| Referee : Simon Micallef (Australia) Crowd : 20069 Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), Toninho Barroso (Brazil) | ||||
| Match report by Thomas Esamie | ||||
| The circus moved to Adelaide and the unthinkable happened. Australia put back-to-back wins together against Brazil. Hardly anyone was complaining about Harry Kewell and Ante Seric not being there. | ||||
| Played : March 24 | Venue : Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide | |||
| Australia Danny Milosevic, Brett Emerton (c), Bill Damianos (Christian Care 71), Raphael Bove (Jason Culina 55), Clayton Zane (Nick Carle 83), Archie Thompson (Michael Curcija 46), Con Blatsis, Simon Colosimo, Vincent Grella, Nick Rizzo, Jacob Burns (Tansel Baser 53) Goals : Zane 42, Curcija 58, Rizzo 79pk |
3 | - | 2 | Brazil Fabio, Fernando (Edu 58), Matuzalem, Felipe Alvim, Fernando Santos, Rodrigo, Rodrigo Lacerda Ramos "Ferrugem" (c), Gustavo, Luiz Claudio (Marcelo Rocha 10), Eriberto, Marco Antonio Goals : Marco Antonio 11, 83 |
| Referee : Eugene Brazzale (Australia) Crowd : 7537 Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), Toninho Barroso (Brazil) | ||||
| Match report by Thomas Esamie | ||||
| Unthinkable before the series Australia managed a clean sweep winning all three games. | ||||
| Played : March 28 | Venue : West Australian Cricket Arena, Perth | |||
| Australia Danny Milosevic, Brett Emerton (c), Stephen Laybutt, Raphael Bove, Jason Culina, Clayton Zane (Archie Thompson 74), Michael Curcija (Jacob Burns 88), Con Blatsis, Vincent Grella, Nick Rizzo (Bill Damianos 74 (Christian Care 90+)), Tansel Baser Goals : Zane 14, 24 |
2 | - | 1 | Brazil Fabio, Fernando Santos, Rodrigo (Gaviao 29), Rodrigo Lacerda Ramos "Ferrugem" (c), Gustavo, Luiz Claudio (Pontes 46), Marco Antonio, Matuzalem, Alessandro, Edu, Marcelo Rocha Goals : Edu 60 |
| Referee : Brett Hugo (Australia) Crowd : 13357 Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), Toninho Barroso (Brazil) | ||||
| Match report by Thomas Esamie | ||||
| Australia played at least one warm up game to prepare for the touring Kiwis. | ||||
| Played : May 26 | Venue : Canberra | |||
| Australia Goals : unknown |
3 | - | 1 | Australian Institute of Sport Goals : unknown |
| Australia played a 3 match series against their Trans-Tasman rivals in regional centres during the World Cup so it more or less got ignored. | ||||
| Played : June 13 | Venue : Malanda Dairy Farmers Stadium, Townsville | |||
| Australia (Squad) Danny Milosevic, Joe Didulica, Sebastian Sinozic, Con Blatsis, Stephen Laybutt, Brett Emerton, Jacob Burns, Dragi Nastevski, Tansel Baser, Jason Culina, Bill Damianos, Zeljko Susa, Michael Curcija, Clayton Zane, Archie Thompson, Ivan Zelic, Mark Robertson, Andrew McDermott, Noel Spencer, Glen Kolpak Goals : Zeljko Susa 3 |
1 | - | 0 | New Zealand |
| Referee : Crowd : Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), Joe McGrath (New Zealand) | ||||
| Australia played a 3 match series against their Trans-Tasman rivals in regional centres during the World Cup so it more or less got ignored. | ||||
| Played : June 17 | Venue : Oakes Oval, Lismore | |||
| Australia Peter Zois, Dragi Nastevski, Sebastian Sinozic, Ivan Zelic, Andrew McDermott, Jacob Burns, Noel Spencer, Brett Emerton, Bill Damianos, Archie Thompson, Michael Curcija Goals : Curcija 52, Emerton 70 |
2 | - | 0 | New Zealand |
| Referee : Crowd : 4000 Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), Joe McGrath (New Zealand) | ||||
| Australia finished the series in a clean sweep. They were off to South America on July 6 for more games. All with the aim of producing a medal winning team in the Year 2000. | ||||
| Played : June 20 | Venue : International Sports Stadium, Coffs Harbour | |||
| Australia (Squad) Danny Milosevic, Joe Didulica, Sebastian Sinozic, Con Blatsis, Stephen Laybutt, Brett Emerton, Jacob Burns, Dragi Nastevski, Tansel Baser, Jason Culina, Bill Damianos, Zeljko Susa, Michael Curcija, Clayton Zane, Archie Thompson, Ivan Zelic, Mark Robertson, Andrew McDermott, Noel Spencer, Glen Kolpak Goals : Brett Emerton 19, Leo Carle 24, Clayton Zane 75, Glen Kolpak 80 |
4 | - | 0 | New Zealand |
| Referee : Crowd : 4400 Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), Joe McGrath (New Zealand) | ||||
| Australia embarked on a 5 match tour of South America in July 1998. The details are scant. The first game was played against the Argentinian club San Lorenzo. | ||||
| Played : July | Venue : | |||
| San Lorenzo Goal : |
1 | - | 0 | Australia |
| Referee : Crowd : Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), | ||||
| Australia added a 6th match to their schedule here, but it's not clear just how match-like this game was. In Argentina a scratch side named "Maccabi" was put together to face the Olyroos. | ||||
| Played : July | Venue : | |||
| Maccabi |
0 | - | 10 | Australia Goals : |
| Referee : Crowd : Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), | ||||
| Australia's next game was against regular opponents Universidad Catolica of Chile. | ||||
| Played : July | Venue : | |||
| Universidad Catolica Goal : |
1 | - | 0 | Australia |
| Referee : Crowd : Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), | ||||
| Australia then played the Chilean Olympic team before they, in turn, left for a tour of Europe. | ||||
| Played : July 21 | Venue : | |||
| Chile Goal : |
1 | - | 1 | Australia Joe Didulica, Dragi Nastevski, Tansel Baser, Ivan Zelic, Sebastian Sinozic, Andy Vargas, Jacob Burns, Kasey Wehrman (Christian Care 71), Brett Emerton, Michael Curcija (Nick Carle 63 (Mile Sterjovski 84)), Zeljko Susa (sent off 72) Goal : Emerton 60pk |
| Referee : Crowd : Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), | ||||
| After their satisfying performance against Chile the Aussies played Chilean Club side Audax Italiano. | ||||
| Played : July | Venue : | |||
| Audax Italiano Goal : |
1 | - | 5 | Australia Goals : |
| Referee : Crowd : Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), | ||||
| The final game of the tour was played against Argentina's Olympic team behind closed doors. The story goes the match was scheduled near the San Lorenzo game at the start of the tour but was postponed to give the Argentines more time to prepare their team because the San Lorenzo game gave the Olympic side a rude shock about their expectations of the Australians. I would take this story with a pinch of salt. | ||||
| Played : July | Venue : | |||
| Argentina |
0 | - | 1 | Australia Joe Didulica, Dragi Nastevski, Tansel Baser, Ivan Zelic, Sebastian Sinozic, Andy Vargas (Michael Bresciano 50), Jacob Burns, Kasey Wehrman, Brett Emerton, Michael Curcija (Nick Carle 60), Zeljko Susa Goal : |
| Referee : Crowd : Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), | ||||
| The Olyroos participated in a charity match against the Wollongong City Wolves in order to raise money for those affected by the floods which devastated the inhabitants of Wollongong. | ||||
| Played : September 9 | Venue : Brandon Park, Wollongong | |||
| Wollongong City Lineup unknown Goal : Matthew Horsley 35 |
1 | - | 0 | Australia (Squad)Zeljko Susa, Ivan Zelic, Jacob Burns, Brett Emerton, Sebastian Sinozic, Noel Spencer, Mile Sterjovski, Kasey Wehrman, Marco Bresciano, Simon Colosimo, Michael Curcija, Joe Didulica, Vince Grella, Dragi Nastevski, Andy Vargas, Danny Milosevic, Christian Care, Kosta Salapasidis |
| Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), Nick Theodorakopoulos (Wollongong) | ||||
| Match report by Stephen Webb | ||||
| For reasons not known to me the Olyroos hosted their Chinese counterparts. They certainly had a surprise in store for the hometown heroes. | ||||
| Played : November 25 | Venue : Marconi Stadium, Sydney | |||
| Australia Danny Milosevic, Hayden Foxe, Sebastian Sinozic, Ivan Zelic, Michael Garcia (Jacob Burns 59), Brett Emerton, Marco Bresciano (Zelko Susa 82), Jason Culina (Andy Vargas 59), Kasey Wehrmann, Michael Curcija (Carlos Gonzalez 59), Kosta Salapasidis |
0 | - | 1 | China Li Jian, Xu Yunlong, Wang Chao, Zheng Zhi, Hao Wei (Qu Dong 78), Li Yan, Min Jin, Zhang Ran, Li Yi (Shang Yi 65), Zhang Yuning (Zhang Xiaorui 65), Tao Wei Goal : Li Yi 52 |
| Referee : Simon Micallef Attendance : 1500 Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), | ||||
| Match report
by Markian Jaworsky Match report by Stephen Webb | ||||
| The exercise was repeated in Wollongong days later. You'd think such an exercise might have been made more public less then 2 years out from the Olympics. Still for those who did make the pilgrimage the match proved to be quite entertaining. | ||||
| Played : November 27 | Venue : Brandon Park, Wollongong | |||
| Australia Danny Milosevic, Tansel Baser, Hayden Foxe, Sebastian Sinozic, Ivan Zelic (Dragi Nastevski 46), Marco Bresciano, Jacob Burns, Carlos Gonzalez, Zeljko Susa (Jason Culina 63), Kasey Wehrman (Andy Vargas 70), Michael Curcija Goals : Curcija 16, Foxe 21, 82 |
3 | - | 3 | China Li Jian, Xu Yunlong, Wang Chao (Qu Dong 85), Zheng Zhi, Hao Wei, Li Yan, Min Jin (Xue Shen 74), Zhang Ran (Li Yinan 79), Li Yi, Zhang Yuning, Tao Wei Goals : Li Yi 26, Tao Wei 28pk, Zhang Ran 87 |
| Referee : Brett Hugo Attendance : 2000 Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), | ||||
| Match report by Stephen Webb | ||||