Australia’s home World Cup qualifier on Tuesday night against the United Arab Emirates is a must-win affair for Ange Postecoglou’s men. Here’s everything you need to know about the crucial match.
Australia vs UAE game information
Kick-off: 8pm (AEDT), Tuesday, March 28
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Sydney
TV: Live, Fox Sports, Nine
Referees: Ahmed Al Kaf, Hamad Al Mayahi (first assistant), Abu Baker Salem (second assistant), Mahmoud Al Mahrafi (fourth referee)
Betting: Australia $1.36, Draw $4.50, UAE $8.50
The Socceroos’ squad for the match is the same as that for the 1-1 draw against Iraq, a match which saw coach Postecoglou employ a controversial 3-4-3 formation that didn’t work out quite as well as hoped.
| Name | Club, Country | A International Caps (Goals) |
| Mustafa AMINI | Aarhus Gymnastikforening (AGF), DENMARK | – |
| Aziz BEHICH | Bursaspor, TURKEY | 11 (2) |
| Nathan BURNS | FC Tokyo, JAPAN | 24 (3) |
| Tim CAHILL | Melbourne City FC, AUSTRALIA | 94 (48) |
| Milos DEGENEK | Yokohama F Marinos, JAPAN | 5 (0) |
| Rhyan GRANT | Sydney FC, AUSTRALIA | – |
| Jackson IRVINE | Burton Albion FC, ENGLAND | 7 (0) |
| Mile JEDINAK | Aston Villa FC, ENGLAND | 68 (15) |
| Tomi JURIC | FC Luzern, SWITZERLAND | 20 (4) |
| Robbie KRUSE | Liaoning Whowin FC, CHINA | 48 (4) |
| Mitchell LANGERAK | VfB Stuttgart FC, GERMANY | 6 (0) |
| Mathew LECKIE | FC Ingolstadt 04, GERMANY | 37 (3) |
| Massimo LUONGO | Queens Park Rangers FC, ENGLAND | 24 (5) |
| Riley McGREE | Adelaide United FC, AUSTRALIA | – |
| Mark MILLIGAN | Baniyas FC, UAE | 53 (5) |
| Aaron MOOY | Huddersfield Town AFC, ENGLAND | 21 (5) |
| Mathew RYAN | KRC Genk, BELGIUM | 30 (0) |
| Trent SAINSBURY | FC Internazionale Milano, ITALY | 21 (3) |
| Brad SMITH | AFC Bournemouth, ENGLAND | 14 (0) |
| James TROISI | Melbourne Victory FC, AUSTRALIA | 26 (4) |
| Daniel VUKOVIC | Sydney FC, AUSTRALIA | – |
| Rhys WILLIAMS | Perth Glory FC, AUSTRALIA | 14 (0) |
| Bailey WRIGHT | Bristol City FC, ENGLAND | 12 (1) |
While we won’t know the UAE line-up for certain until kick-off, the side did have 23 players put through their paces at a training session at North Sydney Oval in preparation for the match.
Those 23 players were:
Abdul Aziz Sanqoor, Waleed Abbas, Khamis Ismail, Habib Al Fardan, Ismail Al Hammadi, Ahmed Khalil (Ahli), Khaled Essa, Muhannad Salem Ismail Ahmed, Mohammed Abdul Rahman, Ahmed Barman, Omer Abdul Rahman (Al Ain), Ali Khesaif, Faris Jumaa, Mohammed Fawzi, Ali Mabkhout, Khalfan Mubarak (Al Jazira), Hamdan Al Kamali, Ismail Matar (Al Wahda), Tareq Ahmed, Salem Saleh, Mahmoud Khamis (Al Nasr), Khamis Ebrahim (Al Shabab).
Goalkeeper Majid Nasser was not in the training session due to the passing of his uncle, and a return date is yet to be confirmed.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Even though St.Pauli ultimately lost a high-scoring affair, Jackson Irvine was a standout, as well as scoring a late goal.
What if we celebrated all of the achievements big and small, and weeded out those hell-bent on bringing down a game that is doing a hell of a lot right?
A good performance from Michael Ruhs, scoring twice to beat Macarthur and doubling his season goal tally in the process.
Nestory Irankunda has sensationally rejected the chance to play at the Paris Olympics this June after a late bid from the Olyroos to include…
Mathew Ryan's tenure at AZ Alkmaar appears to be over, as the Eredivisie side are seemingly moving on from the 93-time Socceroo. The decision…
One down 49 to go. Socceroos striker Kusini Yengi raised some eyebrows this week when he declared himself to be the talisman striker the…
