This page summarises the Australia national soccer team fixtures and results in 2008.
Contents
| 2008 season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Chairmen | Frank Lowy | ||
| Manager | Pim Verbeek | ||
This page summarises the Australia national soccer team fixtures and results in 2008.
| 2008 season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Chairmen | Frank Lowy | ||
| Manager | Pim Verbeek | ||
The main focus for the National Team was to attempt to qualify for their third World Cup. The 2010 campaign was Australia's first as a member of the AFC and they entered the qualification in the Third Round drawn into a group containing Qatar, Iraq and China. Matches took place from February until June and Australia had already succeeded in moving through the next round when they lost to China at home in the final game. Despite this, they still topped the group.
Fourth Round qualifying had Australia in a group with Bahrain, Japan, Qatar and Uzbekistan. By the end of the calendar year, they had played three games for three wins and were sitting top of the group with five games yet to be played.
They also enjoyed a come from behind friendly win away to the Netherlands who were ranked four in the world at the time. Australia finished the year ranked 28 on the FIFA Rankings.
| Type | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friendly matches | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| World Cup qualifiers | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 3 |
| Total | 13 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 6 |
| 22 March Friendly | Singapore  | 0–0 |  Australia | Kallang, Singapore |
| (Report) | Stadium: National Stadium Attendance: 6,282 Referee: Prayoon Veerapool (Thailand) |
| 23 May Friendly | Australia | 1–0 |  Ghana | Sydney, Australia |
Sterjovski  46' | (Report) | Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium Attendance: 29,914 Referee: Hajime Matsuo (Japan) |
| 19 August Friendly | Australia | 2–2 |  South Africa | London, England |
| Sterjovski 25' Kennedy 38' | (Report) | 21' Nkosi 58' Modise | Stadium: Loftus Road Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Howard Webb (England) |
| 6 September Friendly | Netherlands  | 1–2 | Australia | Eindhoven, Netherlands |
| Huntelaar 6' | (Report) | 45+1' (pen.) Kewell 76' Kennedy | Stadium: Philips Stadion Attendance: 22,500 Referee: Martin Atkinson (England) |
| 6 February Third Round | Australia | 3–0 |  Qatar | Melbourne, Australia |
| Kennedy 11' Cahill 17'Bresciano 33' | [ (Report)] | Stadium: Telstra Dome Attendance: 50,969 Referee: Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh (Malaysia) |
| 26 March Third Round | China  | 0–0 | Australia | Kunming, China |
| [ (Report)] | Stadium: Kunming Stadium Referee: Mohamed Al Saeedi (United Arab Emirates) |
| 1 June Third Round | Australia | 1–0 |  Iraq | Brisbane, Australia |
| Kewell 47' | [ (Report)] | Stadium: Suncorp Stadium Attendance: 48,678 Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan) |
| 7 June Third Round | Iraq | 1–0 | Australia | Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| Mohammed 28' | [ (Report)] | Stadium: Al-Rashid Stadium Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Kazuhiko Matsumura (Japan) |
| 14 June Third Round | Qatar | 1–3 | Australia | Doha, Qatar |
| Ibrahim 89' | [ (Report)] | 17', 56' Emerton 74' Kewell | Stadium: Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Lee Gi-Young (South Korea) |
| 22 June Third Round | Australia | 0–1 | China | Sydney, Australia |
| [ (Report)] | 12' Sun | Stadium: Stadium Australia Attendance: 70,054 Referee: Khalil Al Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia) |
| 10 September Fourth Round | Uzbekistan  | 0–1 | Australia | Tashkent, Uzbekistan |
| [ (Report)] | 26' Chipperfield | Stadium: Pakhtakor Stadium Attendance: 34,000 Referee: Saad Kamil Al-Fadhli (Kuwait) |
| 15 October Fourth Round | Australia | 4–0 | Qatar | Brisbane, Australia |
| Cahill 8' Emerton 17', 58'Kennedy 76' | [ (Report)] | Stadium: Suncorp Stadium Attendance: 34,320 Referee: Khalil Al Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia) |
| 19 November Fourth Round | Bahrain  | 0–1 | Australia | Manama, Bahrain |
| [ (Report)] | 90+3' Bresciano | Stadium: National Stadium Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Masoud Moradi (Iran) |
| Player | Friendlies | FIFA World Cup qual. | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emerton | - | 4 | 4 |
| Kennedy | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Kewell | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Bresciano | - | 2 | 2 |
| Cahill | - | 2 | 2 |
| Sterjovski | 2 | - | 2 |
| Chipperfield | - | 1 | 1 |
