According to early modest estimates, Australians will hold a considerable amount of tickets for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Their motive for being so supportive of Australian soccer: the Australian Socceroos will be playing other Group D contenders (Serbia, Ghana and Germany) in order to move on to the final rounds and win the cup.
Already, a projected 6,000 Australian fans are the third highest group of ticket holders. In Ausralia, Total Sports Travel has been licensed by the FIFA to sell packages to the games in South Africa and will sell corporate hospitality suite seating.
The 2010 FIFA World Cup is set to happen between June 11 and July 11, 2010 and is expected to be the biggest sportsbet event in history. Like the 2008 Summer Olympics, it will be the sport at the time that has the most competing nations.
The role South Africa plays in this event is no small one. After winning a bidding war against Egypt and Morocco, the country was selected as the first African nation to host the World Cup.
The Australian Socceroos have been to two previous FIFA World Cup tournaments, in 2006 and in 1976. The team was one of the first to qualify for the 2010 World cup by not losing a match and conceding only one goal.
After the team was formed in 1922, the geographical location of Australia between the Pacific and Indian Oceans south of Asia was somewhat of a barrier to its ability to compete. The team representing the “Land Down Under” had to form test matches with China, New Zealand and South Africa for about 25 years in order to build a reputation for competition.
One of the difficulties Australian soccer has had to manage is the fact that many potential Socceroos have close relatives in other countries like Europe and qualify for passports in those other countries. These promising players choose to play for other national teams instead of Australia. For example, Craig Johnson chose England, Tony Dorigo chose England, Shane Smeltz – New Zealand, Christian Vieri – Italy, and Georgio Samaras – Greece.
Frontrunner players who are still eligible for Australian Socceroos selection for the 2010 cup include Mark Schwarzer, Brett Emerton, John Aloisi, Archie Thompson, Tim Cahill, Lucas Neill, Craig Moore and Scott Chipperfield.
Australian soccer has its proud banners. Currently, the national team holds the world record for the most goals scored by a single player and the largest win in an international match. This happened in 2002 against the American Samoa in World Cup qualification rounds. The world and 6,000 fans will be watching in June 2010 to see if the chosen team can use the magic it practices down under to land on top of the world.
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