The official FFA Preview of this weekend’s Preliminary Final between Sydney FC and Wellington Phoenix.
Hyundai A-League 2010 Finals Series has only two more matches until we crown the Hyundai A-League 2010 Champions.
This weekend-s Preliminary Final features two of the toughest teams from the Hyundai A-League 2009/10 Season – Sydney FC v Wellington Phoenix.
Only one team can go through to the Hyundai A-League 2010 Grand Final.
And then there were three…only one will be left standing.
Hyundai A-League 2010 Finals Series: Be Part of Something Bigger
Saturday, 13 March 2010
Sydney FC v Wellington Phoenix
Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
Local kick-off: 8.00pm
Referee: Peter Green
Live and exclusive broadcast on FOX Sports 3/3 HD and Sky Sport 2. Hyundai A-League club broadcast partner is ABC Radio (Sydney) and The Radio Network 1035 AM (Wellington). To purchase tickets visit www.ticketek.com.au
Sydney FC squad: 1. Clint BOLTON (gk), 2. Sebastian RYALL 3. Stephan KELLER, 4.Simon COLOSIMO, 5. Hayden FOXE, 6. Karol KISEL, 7. Brendan GAN, 8. Stuart MUSIALIK, 9. John ALOISI (c), 12. Shannon COLE, 13. Antony GOLEC,14. Alex BROSQUE, 15. Terry MCFLYNN, 16. Chris PAYNE,19. Mark BRIDGE, 20. Ivan NECEVSKI, 22. Sung-Hwan BYUN
*one to be omitted*
In: Shannon COLE (returns from injury), Antony GOLEC (promoted)
Out: Nil
Unavailable: Kofi DANNING (knee – season), Matthew JURMAN (foot – season), Steve Corica (hamstring – season), Rhyan GRANT (ankle – season), Adam CASEY (hamstring – indefinite)
Wellington Phoenix squad: 2. Manny MUSCAT, 3. Tony LOCHHEAD, 5. DIEGO, 6. Tim BROWN, 7. Leo BERTOS, 8. Paul IFILL, 9. Chris GREENACRE, 10. Michael FERRANTE, 11. DANIEL, 13. Troy HEARFIELD, 14. Adrian CACERES, 15. Eugene DADI, 17. Vince LIA, 18. Ben SIGMUND, 20. Reece CROWTHER (gk), 22. Andrew DURANTE (c), 23.Costa BARBAROUSES, 40. Liam REDDY (gk)
*two to be omitted*
In: Jon McKAIN (returns from suspension), Michael FERRANTE (promoted)
Out: Nil
Unavailable: Mark PASTON (gk) (leg – season)
*Head-to-Head: Played 9: Wellington Phoenix wins 3, Sydney FC wins 5 (1 draw)
Hyundai A-League 2010 Finals Series – Week 3 Snapshot
Sydney FC v Wellington Phoenix – Preliminary Final
Finals experience closer than you may think:
Despite 2010 being Sydney-s fourth Hyundai A-League finals series campaign, and Wellington-s first, the finals experience of both squads are quite similar. The combined number of Hyundai A-League finals appearances for this weekend-s Sydney FC squad stands at 64, only marginally ahead of the number of combined final appearances for the Phoenix squad (57). While Sydney FC have the likes of experienced finals campaigners Clint Bolton (9 finals appearances), Stuart Musialik (9), Mark Bridge (8) and Terry McFlynn (8), Wellington also have plenty of experienced players such as Liam Reddy (9 finals appearances), Andrew Durante (8) and Troy Hearfield (7).
Close preliminary finals:
All four previous Hyundai A-League Preliminary Finals have been close affairs, with each match ending with a one goal or less margin. The trend of close Preliminary Finals was also apparent in the old NSL – with 8 out of the past 10 national league Preliminary Finals (Hyundai A-League and NSL) ending in margins of one or less goals.
One Million for SFS:
After last weekend-s Major Semi Final, an aggregate audience of 987,469 people had attended 61 Hyundai A-League matches played at Sydney Football Stadium to date, meaning just 12,531 more people need to attend at the venue to break the one million milestone. Only one venue has attracted one million to Hyundai A-League matches so far, that being Etihad Stadium, where 1,286,147 people have attended 48 Hyundai A-League matches to date.
Hyundai A-League Preliminary Finals flashbacks
Hyundai A-League 2006 Preliminary Final
Adelaide United 0 – Central Coast Mariners 1 (T.Pondeljak 7′) at Hindmarsh Stadium
Hyundai A-League 2007 Preliminary Final
Adelaide United 1-4pen (C.Veart 57′) – Newcastle Jets 1-3pen (V.Coveny 74′) after extra time, at Hindmarsh Stadium
Hyundai A-League 2008 Preliminary Final
Newcastle Jets 3 (J.Griffiths 14′, T.Elrich 104′, M.Thompson 110′) – Brisbane Roar 2 (Reinaldo 92’pen, 118’pen) after extra time, at EnergyAustralia Stadium
Hyundai A-League 2009 Preliminary Final
Adelaide United 1 (F.Barbiero 25′) – Brisbane Roar 0 at Hindmarsh Stadium
