Written by Thomas Esamie. For more details see credits.
| Prior to their 2 match series against the South Koreans the Olyroos played a match against Victorian Premier League team Port Melbourne as a warm up. The Olyroos also played NSL club South Melbourne before finally taking on South Korea. | ||||
| Played : January 12 | Venue : SS Anderson Reserve, Port Melbourne | |||
| Australia Joe Didiluca (Danny Milosevic 45), Brett Emerton (Jacob Burns 45), Michael Garcia, Chris Coyne (Sebastian Sinozic 45), Raphael Bove (Dragi Nastefski 45), Ivan Zelic, Jason Culina, Mark Robertson (Zeljko Susa 45), Michael Curcija (Mile Sterjovski 45), Kasey Wehrman, Clayton Zane Goals : Zane x2 (1pk), Susa |
3 | - | 0 | Port Melbourne (Incomplete) Smith, Dean Fak, Kakos, Nick Palamaris, Vargas, Nick Tsaltas, Efstathiou, Knezevic Subs : Jackson, Kamakanis |
| Match report by Damian Smith | ||||
| In the continuing quest for Olympic Glory the Olyroos hosted a 2 match series against their South Korean counterparts. The first was held in Morwell, home of the NSL clubs Gippsland Falcons. Result was quite bogus though. | ||||
| Played : January 15 | Venue : Mobil Park, Morwell | |||
| Australia Joe Didulica, Raphael Bove, Chris Coyne, Sebastian Sinozic, Dragi Nastevski, Jacob Burns (Zeljko Susa 82), Mark Robertson (Chirstian Care 45), Brett Emerton, Kasey Wehrman (Jason Culina 45), Michael Curcija, Clayton Zane (Mile Sterjovski 30) |
0 | - | 1 | South Korea Young Dae Kim, D Chung (S Lee 55), S Cho, J Park, J Sim, D Park, Kwan Woo Lee (B Sin 45), D Kim, H An (S Jung 62), K Seol, C Choi (R Park 45) Goal : Kwan Woo Lee 17 |
| Referee : G Connolly Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), Jung Moo Huh (South Korea) | ||||
| Squad listing | Match report by Soccer Australia | |||
| In the second game against the visitors the Olyroos managed to double their efforts of the previous game and lose 2-0. The game was almost called off due to a torrential downpour into the second half. | ||||
| Played : January 22 | Venue : Bob Jane Stadium, Melbourne | |||
| Australia Joe Didulica, Brett Emerton, Raphael Bove, Sebastian Sinozic, Chris Coyne, Jacob Burns, Mark Robertson, Kasey Wehrman (Michael Garcia 68), Jason Culina, Michael Curcija (Peter Buljan 60), Mile Sterjovski (Christian Care 76) |
0 | - | 2 | South Korea Yoo Seok Chung, Se Kwon Cho, Jin Sub Park, Jae Won Sim, Jae Hong Park (Dae Hoon Chung 70), Dong Hyuk Park, Nam Il Kim (Do Kyun Kim 36), Kwan Woo Lee (Rae Cheol Park 78), Hyo Yeon An Ki Hyeon Seul, Dong Gook Lee (Chul Woo Choi 78) Goals : Seol 25, Sinozic 89og |
| Referee : Mark Shield Linesmen : Andrew Stacey, Senko Rastosic Crowd : ~4000 Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), Jung Moo Huh (South Korea) | ||||
| Squad listing | Match report
by Soccer Australia Match report by Alan Clark | |||
| The Olyroos played a one-off game against Japan who, in turn, were preparing for Olympic Games qualifying. Hayden Foxe, the Japan-based player, scored the winner with a curling free kick into the back of the net. The same Japanese team had recently beaten Argentina 1-0. | ||||
| Played : May 12 | Venue : Urawa, Japan | |||
| Japan (lineup unknown) |
0 | - | 1 | Australia Peter Zois, Raphael Bove, Simon Colosimo, Hayden Foxe, Steve Laybutt, Tansel Baser (Chris Coyne 81), Vince Grella, Lucas Neill (Zeljko Susa 87), Bill Damianos (Nick Carle 72), Archie Thompson (Kasey Wehrman 55), Brett Emerton Goal : Foxe 70 |
| Referee : unknown Linesmen : unknown Crowd : 15000 Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), (Japan) | ||||
| Australia's Olympic team played a match against Singapore's full national side. | ||||
| Played : June 20 | Venue : Bishan Stadium, Singapore | |||
| Singapore (lineup incomplete)Rezal Hassan (GK), Aziz Salim, Lim Tong Hai (Hairi Suap 51 (sent off 78)), Robin Chitrakar, Nazri Nasir, Indra Sahdan Daud, Azhar Salleh |
0 | - | 5 | Australia Danny Milosevic, Jacob Burns, Michael Garcia (Michael Santalab 62), Con Blatsis, Dragi Nastevski, Stephen Laybutt (Buddy Farah 75), Brett Emerton, Kasey Wehrman (Nick Sabljak 75), Michael Curcija, Zeljko Susa (George Goutzioulis 58), Clayton Zane (Nick Carle 58) Goals : Emerton 25, Wehrman 40, Curcija 55, 82, Zane 57 |
| Referee : unknown Crowd : 6000 Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), Vincent Subramaniam (Singapore) | ||||
| Match report by The Straits Times | ||||
| Played : June 30 | Venue : North Harbour Stadium, Auckland | |||
| New Zealand Robbie Barraclough, Sakdy Phomahaxay, Greg Uhlmann, Gareth Rowe, Joe Murray (Jeff Campbell), Jeremy Brown (Blair Scoullar), Graham Pearce, Gerard Davis, Ian Robinson, Raffaele de Gregorio (Duncan Oughton), Campbell Banks |
0 | - | 2 | Australia Joe Didulica, Michael Garcia, Dragi Nastevski, Simon Colosimo, Steve Laybutt, Brett Emerton, Jacob Burns, Kasey Wehrman, Zeljko Susa (George Goutzoulis 55), Michael Curcija, Clayton Zane (Nick Carle 65) Goals : Zane 15, 44 |
| Referee : unknown Crowd : 5000 Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), Ricki Herbert & Ron Armstrong (New Zealand) | ||||
| Played : July 3 | Venue : Queen Elizabeth II Stadium, Christchurch | |||
| New Zealand Robbie Barraclough, Matt Ayloff (Sakdy Phommahaxay), Gareth Rowe, Greg Uhlmann, Matthew Urlovic (Gerard Davis 46), Jeremy Brown, Graham Pearce, Rafaele de Gregorio, Ian Robinson, Duncan Oughton (Jeff Campbell), Campbell Banks |
0 | - | 3 | Australia Dean Milosevic, Michael Garcia, Con Blatsis, Simon Colosimo, Steve Laybutt (Buddy Farah 45), Brett Emerton, Jacob Burns, Kasey Wehrman (Nick Sabljak 46), Zeljko Susa (George Goutzoulis 78), Michael Curcija, Clayton Zane Goals : Zane 15, Curcija 20, Ayloff 44og |
| Referee : Brian Precious Crowd : 1000 Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), Ricki Herbert & Ron Armstrong (New Zealand) | ||||
| The Olyroos undertook a 2 match trip to England against local club side Southhampton (with about half the team being premier league regulars) and then a match against the Kuwaiti Olympic team who were also undertaking some preparations in England. | ||||
| Played : September 2 | Venue : The Dell, England | |||
| Southhampton (lineup unknown) Goals : scorer unknown 21 |
1 | - | 4 | Australia Danny Milosevic (Peter Zois 46), Lucas Neill (Raphael Bove 75), Con Blatsis, Hayden Foxe, Stephen Laybutt, Tansel Baser, Jason Culina (Marco Bresciano 55), Bill Damianos (Mark Robertson 78), Brett Emerton (Clayton Zane 78), Kosta Salapasidis (Daniel Alsop 55), Nick Rizzo (Jacob Burns 75) Goals : Salapasidis 17, Neill 47, Allsop 60, Foxe 65 |
| Referee : unknown Crowd : unknown Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), David Jones (Southhampton) | ||||
| Played : September 7 | Venue : London | |||
| Kuwait (lineup unknown) Goal : Bader Najem 68pk |
1 | - | 1 | Australia Danny Milosevic, Lucas Neill (Jacob Burns 69), Con Blatsis, Hayden Foxe, Steve Laybutt, Tansel Baser, Marco Bresciano (Jason Culina 41), Bill Damianos, Brett Emerton, Daniel Allsopp, Nick Rizzo (Clayton Zane 69) Goal : Rizzo 47 |
| Referee : unknown Crowd : unknown Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), unknown (Kuwait) | ||||
| Match report by Peter Thorpe | ||||
| The Olyroos another "camp" from November 8 until November 18. This period is to cover two matches against the Tunisian Olympic team, no doubt other matches will be played as well. | ||||
| Played : November 15 | Venue : Tunis, Tunisia | |||
| Tunisia (lineup unknown) |
0 | - | 1 | Australia Joe Didulica, Lucas Neill, Tansel Baser, Con Blatsis, Vince Grella, Ivan Zelic, Kosta Salapasidis (Mile Sterjovski 46), Jason Culina (Mark Robertson 79), Daniel Allsopp (Michael Curcija 81), Bill Damianos, Marco Bresciano Goal : Allsopp 15 |
| Referee : unknown Crowd : unknown Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), unknown (Tunisia) | ||||
| Squad listing | ||||
| The Olyroos another "camp" from November 8 until November 18. This period is to cover two matches against the Tunisian Olympic team, no doubt other matches will be played as well. | ||||
| Played : November 17 | Venue : Tunisia | |||
| Tunisia (lineup unknown) Goal : unknown 89pk |
1 | - | 1 | Australia Danny Milosevic, Lucas Neill, Con Blatsis, Dragi Nastevski, Ivan Zelic, Jacob Burns, Vince Grella, Marco Bresciano, Michael Curcija (Mile Sterjovski 65), Daniel Allsop (sent off 25), Zeljko Susa (Jason Culina 65) Goal : Curcija 43 |
| Referee : unknown Crowd : unknown Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), unknown (Tunisia) | ||||
| Squad listing | ||||