Auckland, 1 May 2004: The Oceania Football Confederation, in conjunction with the host association, the Australian Soccer Association, is pleased to announce the venue and match schedule for Stage 2 of the combined OFC Nations Cup and 2006 FIFA World Cup Qualifying Tournament from 29 May – 6 June 2004.
The Stage 2 tournament will take place in Adelaide with two match venues being used as a result of the schedule which sees three matches played per round. Marden Sports Complex will host the opening afternoon matches with Hindmarsh Stadium hosting double-headers in the evenings.
The schedule has thrown up a tough first up match between the Australia ‘Socceroos’ and arch-rivals New Zealand ‘All Whites’, on Saturday, 29 May. The Socceroos have the home advantage while the All Whites were victorious in their last meeting, in the Nations Cup final in 2002.
Australia and New Zealand have automatically been seeded into Stage 2 with the four other teams to be decided during the Stage 1 group qualifiers held in the Solomon Islands and Samoa on 10-19 May. Teams taking part in Stage 1 are Cook Islands, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tonga (Group 1) and American Samoa, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Vanuatu (Group 2).
The winner and runner up from the Stage 2 round robin will progress to the first of two final home and away playoff series. The first series on 9 and 13 October 2004 will decide the OFC Nations Cup champion and representative to next year’s Confederations Cup in Germany as well as the OFC representative for the next AFC-OFC Challenge Cup. While the second playoff series on 3 and 7 September 2005 will decide the OFC Champion to take on the fifth ranked South American (CONMEBOL) qualifier for a coveted place at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
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For more information, please contact:
Peter Rees
Competitions & Media
Oceania Football Confederation
Ericsson Stadium
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
Tel: +64 9 525 8161
Fax: +64 9 525 8164
Mob: +64 (0) 21 675 617
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.oceaniafootball.com
or
Stuart Hodge
Head of Media & Communications
Australian Soccer Association
Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Phone: +61 (0)2 8354 5533
Mobile: +61 (0)416 103 205
E-Mail: [email protected]
enc. – match schedule Stage 2
2004 OFC NATIONS CUP / 2006 FIFA WORLD CUP
STAGE 2 PRELIMINARY COMPETITION
29 May to 6 June 2004, ADELAIDE
MATCH SCHEDULE
SATURDAY 29 MAY
Group 2 No 1 v Group 1 No 1 1400 hrs Marden Sport Complex
Group 1 No 2 v Group 2 No 2 1730 hrs Hindmarsh
Australia v New Zealand 2000 hrs Hindmarsh
MONDAY 31 MAY
New Zealand v Group 1 No 1 1400 hrs Marden Sport Complex
Australia v Group 1 No 2 1730 hrs Hindmarsh
Group 2 No 2 v Group 2 No 1 2000 hrs Hindmarsh
WEDNESDAY 2 JUNE
Australia v Group 2 No 2 1400 hrs Marden Sport Complex
Group 1 No 2 v Group 1 No 1 1730 hrs Hindmarsh
New Zealand v Group 2 No 1 2000 hrs Hindmarsh
FRIDAY 4 JUNE
New Zealand v Group 1 No 2 1400 hrs Marden Sport Complex
Group 2 No 2 v Group 1 No 1 1730 hrs Hindmarsh
Group 2 No 1 v Australia 2000 hrs Hindmarsh
SUNDAY 6 JUNE
Group 1 No 2 v Group 2 No 1 1400 hrs Marden Sport Complex
Group 2 No 2 v New Zealand 1730 hrs Hindmarsh
Group 1 No 1 v Australia 2000 hrs Hindmarsh