Written by Thomas Esamie. For more details see credits.
| Australia began the Olympic year with a four-nation round robin tournament against the reigning Olympic champions as well as Egypt and the South Koreans. The latter two teams played prior to this game for a 2-0 win to the Koreans, K H Seol and K W Lee scoring in the second half. | ||||
| Played : January 9 | Venue : Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide | |||
| Australia Joe Didulica, Marco Bresciano, Tansel Baser, Chris Coyne, Hayden Foxe, Steve Laybutt, Brett Emerton, Kasey Wehrman (Mile Sterjovski 90), Daniel Allsopp, Jason Culina (Vince Grella 80), Nick Rizzo (Jacob Burns 66) Goal : Allsopp 41 |
1 | - | 0 | Nigeria Imadu Dooyin, Anayaele Okechukwu, Toafeek Oyashipe, Sunday Johnson, Sunday Ibeji (Ugochukwu Okoye 60), Rafiu Salaudeen (Emmanuel Iassah), Robert Akaruye (Chidi Odiah 87), Dele Aiyenugba, Philip Obafuoso, Dandy Okougo, Harry Omokoh |
| Referee : unknown Attendance : 5807 Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), Moussa Abdullhai (Nigeria) | ||||
| Squad listing | Match report by Markian Jaworsky | |||
| Australia fought out a narrow win over the determined Egyptians, meanwhile the South Koreans defeated Nigeria rather more convincingly with goals from Good, Hyeon and Woo | ||||
| Played : January 12 | Venue : Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide | |||
| Australia Peter Zois, Lucas Neill, Chris Coyne (Eddy Bosnar 28), Hayden Foxe, Steve Laybutt, Tansel Baser, Marco Bresciano, Vince Grella, Brett Emerton, Daniel Allsopp (Clayton Zan 79), Nick Rizzo (Kasey Wehrman 45) Goal : Foxe 78 |
1 | - | 0 | Egypt Mohamed Abdel Monsek, Ramy Adel (Abdel Ahmad 90), Sedek Al Mohamed, Said Abdel Haziz, Hany Said (sent off 77), Zaki Mohammed, Belal Ahmed, Moawd Said (Abdel Mohamed 83), Ragab Abdalla (El Sayd Tarek 72), Goma El Khatub, Said Ramy |
| Referee : S Micallef Attendance : 4017 Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), Zigi Hield (Egypt) | ||||
| Squad listing | Match report by Markian Jaworsky | |||
| Australia were outclassed and failed to win the tournament which would have required a win here. Egypt scored a 1-0 (Belal) to ensure the Nigerians went home without having scored a goal and finish last. | ||||
| Played : January 15 | Venue : Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide | |||
| Australia Joe Didulica, Lucas Neill (Mile Sterjovski 85), Chris Coyne, Hayden Foxe, Eddy Bosnar, Tansel Baser (Jacob Burns 45), Marco Bresciano, Kasey Wehrman, Brett Emerton, Daniel Allsopp, Nick Rizzo (Jason Culina 45) |
0 | - | 3 | South Korea Yong Dae Kim, Ji Sun Park, Jae Hong Park, Jin Sub Park, Jae Won Sim (Hee Keun Na 64), Do Kyun Kim, Ki Hyeon Seol, Young Po Lee, Dong Hyuk Park, Dong Gook Lee (Chui Woo Choi 67), Kwan Woo Lee (Se Kwon Cho 64) Goals : K H Seol 14, K W Lee 42, D G Lee 45 |
| Referee : E Lennie Crowd : 5945 Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), Jung Moo Huh (South Korea) | ||||
| Squad listing | ||||
| Played : March 22 | Venue : Bratislava, Slovakia | |||
| Slovakia lineup unknown Goal : Marek Mintal 44 |
1 | - | 0 | Australia Joe Didulica, Tansel Baser, Stephen Laybutt (Chris Coyne 30), Buddy Farah, Con Blatsis, Brett Emerton, Jason Culina (Marco Bresciano 71), Vince Grella (Lucas Neill 75), Nick Rizzo (Kasey Wehrman 46), Michael Curcija (Kosta Salapasidis 60), Clayton Zane |
| Referee : unknown Crowd : unknown Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), unknown (Slovakia) | ||||
| Squad listing | Match report by Soccer Australia Match report by Trevor Marshallsea of AAP | |||
| Played : March 28 | Venue : Weert, Netherlands | |||
| Netherlands Goals : Wilfred Bouma 30, Victor Sikora 67 |
2 | - | 1 | Australia Joe Didulica, Lucas Neill, Con Blatsis, Buddy Farah, Chris Coyne, Jacob Burns, Vince Grella, Kasey Wehrman (Marco Bresciano 60), Jason Culina, Brett Emerton, Kosta Salapasidis (Michael Curcija 70) Goal : Emerton 40 |
| Referee : unknown Crowd : unknown Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), unknown (Netherlands) | ||||
| Squad listing | Match report by AAP | |||
| As preparation for the Olympics continued the Olyroos played a local side during a training camp in Brisbane. | ||||
| Played : July 10 | Venue : Palm Beach | |||
| Australia Michael Turnbull, Jacob Burns, Ivan Zelic, Hayden Foxe, Buddy Farah (Dragi Nastevski 46), Simon Colosimo, Ljubo Milicevic, Mark Robertson, Mark Reid, Mile Sterjovski, Archie Thompson Goal : Colosimo 81 |
1 | - | 0 | Gold Coast City lineup unknown |
| Referee : unknown Crowd : unknown Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), unknown (Gold Coast City) | ||||
| Match report by Soccer Australia | ||||
| As preparation for the Olympics continued the Olyroos played another local side during a training camp in Brisbane. | ||||
| Played : July 16 | Venue : Underwood Park | |||
| Australia (team and bench) Michael Turnbull, Simon Colosimo, Jason Burns, Buddy Farah, Dragi Nastevski, Ivan Zelic, Paul Reid, Mark Robertson, Archie Thompson, Lujbo Milicevic, Mile Sterjovski, Lawrence Drake, Jamie Johnson, Jonathan McKain Goals : Sterjovski 35, Thompson 85 |
2 | - | 1 | Rochedale Rovers (team and bench) Graham Ross, Paul Grugan, Ross Davidson, Dwayne Good, Damian Harris, Michael Legg, Matt Olley, Clayton Koch, Garth Dorey, Ray Huth, Danny Stowers, Adam Watson, Corey Nicholson, Taro Urabe, Darren Bender, Sean Hart(gk) Goal : Grugan 70 |
| Referee : unknown Crowd : ~2000 Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), Ken Rusell (Rochedale Rovers) | ||||
| Match report by nibble@uq.edu.au | ||||
| Played : September 6 | Venue : Olympic Park, Melbourne | |||
| Australia Danny Milosevic, Simon Colosimo, Steve Laybutt, Lucas Neill, Stan Lazarides, Vince Grella, Nick Rizzo, Marco Bresciano, Kasey Wehrman, Clayton Zane, Michael Curcija Goals : Bresciano, Zane, Curcija |
3 | - | 0 | Kuwait lineup |
| Referee : unknown Crowd : Match behind closed doors Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), unknown (Kuwait) | ||||
| Match report by Darren Pye | ||||
| Played : September 8 | Venue : Bob Jane Stadium, Melbourne | |||
| Australia Danny Milosevic, Lucas Neill, Simon Colosimo, Steve Laybutt, Stan Lazaridis, Marco Bresciano, Jason Culina, Kasey Wehrman, Nick Rizzo, Michael Curcija, Clayton Zane Goal : Culina 8 |
1 | - | 0 | South Africa lineup |
| Referee : unknown Crowd : unknown Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), unknown (South Africa) | ||||
| Match report by Markian Jaworsky Match report by theworldgame.com.au | ||||
| The Olympic Football tournament kicked off 2 days prior to the opening ceremony and a goal off the post and only just over the line before the ball was cleared by Andrea Pirlo gave Italy a good start, and Australia a poor one. Good results against Nigeria and Honduras would be needed to progress to the Quarter Finals. | ||||
| Played : September 13 | Venue : Melbourne Cricket Ground | |||
| Australia Danny Milosevic, Simon Colosimo, Stan Lazaridis, Hayden Foxe, Josip Skoko (Lucas Neill 79), Stephen Laybutt, Brett Emerton, Mark Viduka, Kasey Wehrman (Marco Bresciano 66), Vince Grella (Nick Rizzo 86), Michael Curcija |
0 | - | 1 | Italy Christian Abbiati, Alessandro Grandoni, Marco Zanchi, Gennaro Gattuso, Gianni Comandini, Roberto Baronio (Cristiano Zanetti 58), Nicola Ventola (Massimo Margiotta 76), Andrea Pirlo, Gianluca Zambrotta, Massimo Ambrosini, Bruno Cirillo Goal : Pirlo 81 |
| Referee : Peter Prendergast (Jamaica) Linesmen : Volodymyr Petrov (Ukraine), Ali Mulumba Tomusange (Uganda) Crowd : 93252 Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), Marco Tardelli (Italy) | ||||
| Squad listing | Match report by David Arnold Match report by Markian Jaworsky Match report by Adrian Smith Match report by Peter Thorpe Match report by Julian Farrell Match report by Alan Clark | |||
| Ah, 0-2 down the Aussies stormed back late in the first half and the match then failed to produce what seemed to be promised in the second half. Another gallant effort...every now and then I could do with a dull win. | ||||
| Played : September 16 | Venue : Sydney Football Stadium | |||
| Australia Danny Milosevic, Simon Colosimo (Nick Rizzo 74), Stan Lazaridis, Hayden Foxe, Josip Skoko, Stephen Laybutt, Brett Emerton (sent off 56), Mark Viduka, Kasey Wehrman (Lucas Neill 61), Vince Grella, Michael Curcija (Clayton Zane 79) Goals : Foxe 41, Wehrman 44 |
2 | - | 3 | Nigeria Greg Etafia, Celestine Babayaro (sent off 56), Christopher Kanu, Victor Agali (Blessing Kaku 81), Yakubu Avegbeni, Azubike Oliseh, Garba Lawal, Pius Ikedia (Johnson Sunday 85), Godwin Okpara, Isaac Okoronkwo, Julius Aghahowa Goals : Ikedia 16, Aghahowa 22, Agali 64 |
| Referee : Carlos Eugenio Simon (Brazil) Linesmen : Vladimir Fernandez Alfaro (SLV) Volodymyr Petrov (UKR) Crowd : 38080 Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), Jo Bonfrere (Nigeria) | ||||
| Squad listing | Match report by Thomas Esamie Match report by Markian Jaworksy Match report by Mark Bowman Match report by Brian Martin Match report by Tony Calder | |||
| Well the home nation finished with a disappointing 0-0-3 record and watch the rest of the games from their armchairs as Italy and Nigeria progress as first and second in the group. | ||||
| Played : September 19 | Venue : Sydney Football Stadium | |||
| Australia Danny Milosevic, Simon Colosimo (Marco Bresciano 46), Stan Lazaridis, Hayden Foxe, Josip Skoko, Stephen Laybutt, Lucas Neill, Mark Viduka, Kasey Wehrman (Clayton Zane 79), Vince Grella (Jason Culina 30), Michael Curcija Goal : Rosales 51og |
1 | - | 2 | Honduras Noel Valladares, Ivan Guerrero, Elmer Montoya, Walter Lopez (Junior Izaguirre 46), Carlos Paes de Oliveira (Francisco Pavon 76), Jaime Rosales, David Suazo, Julio Leon (Julio Suaso 90), Maynor Suazo, Danilo Turcios, Mario Chirinos Goals : D Suazo 3, 60 |
| Referee : Mourad Daami (Tunisia) Linesmen : Volodymyr Petrov (Ukarine), Jorge Horacio Rattalino (Argentina) Crowd : 37788 Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), Ramon Maradiaga (Honduras) | ||||
| Squad listing | Match report by Thomas Esamie Report by Fred Legget Response to Fred's report by Bonita Mersiades | |||