Football Federation Australia boss David Gallop has received assurances Italian giants Juventus will bring their World Cup stars for next month’s clash with an A-League All Stars side.
The 20-man A-League squad for the August 10 game at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium was finalised on Wednesday.
The last four players announced were Newcastle goalkeeper Mark Birighitti, Central Coast midfielder Nick Montgomery, Perth winger Youssouf Hersi and Wellington defender Manny Muscat.
Sydney FC and Central Coast have the biggest representation, with three players each.
Juventus are expected to bring a squad containing a multitude of internationals from Italy and other countries, with possibly more than 10 men who played at the World Cup.
The fact Italy’s involvement ended earlier than expected with their failure to advance from their group means that contingent in the Juventus team will have had a decent break and should be right to play in Sydney.
While the match falls just four weeks after he World Cup finished, Gallop confirmed the FFA had sought assurances Juventus would bring their star players.
“We certainly were careful to make sure that they made that commitment,” Gallop told AAP on Wednesday.
“They (Italy) exited the World Cup earlier than they obviously would have liked to.”
The All Stars squad contains two Socceroo World Cup squad members: central defender Matthew Spiranovic, who played every minute of Australia’s three games, and goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic, who didn’t play during the tournament.
“Those guys will have to come through final fitness tests,” Gallop said.
“But the game last year was exciting for players to be part of, so they recognise that opportunities to play world famous clubs don’t come along that often.”
The inaugural All stars game against England’s Manchester United in 2013 attracted a capacity crowd of over 83,000 to ANZ Stadium and Gallop expected another large turnout next month.
“Ticket sales are going reasonably well, obviously a full house is a tall order, but we’ll get close to that,” Gallop said.
Central Coast coach Phil Moss will assist All Stars head coach Josep Gombau, with Adelaide’s Peter Blazincic appointed as the goalkeeper coach.
The A-League All Stars squad: Alessandro Del Piero (uncontracted), Marcelo Carrusca (Adelaide United), Eugene Galekovic (Adelaide United), Thomas Broich (Brisbane Roar), Matt Smith (Brisbane Roar), Nick Montgomery (Central Coast Mariners), Josh Rose (Central Coast Mariners), Storm Roux (Central Coast Mariners), David Williams (Melbourne City), Besart Berisha (Melbourne Victory), Gui Finkler (Melbourne Victory), Mark Birighitti (Newcastle Jets),Youssouf Hersi (Perth Glory), Ali Abbas (Sydney FC), Bernie Ibini (Sydney FC), Sasa Ognenovski (Sydney FC), Manny Muscat (Wellington Phoenix), Albert Riera (Wellington Phoenix),Tomi Juric (Western Sydney Wanderers), Matthew Spiranovic (Western Sydney Wanderers).
Andrew
Guest
Its true. well in the eyes of the UEFA coefficient rankings Portugal 4th spot 53.8 Italy 5th on 52.6. Italy still keeps its Champions Leauge spots I think but out ranked by Portugal, sign on the times. Serie A is really in the toilet.
Professor Rosseforp
Guest
I assume manager Antonio Conte will not be coming -- does anyone know who will fill his place in this game, and whether Conte will take over the national side following his resignation from Juventus?
David
Guest
Woah woah woah, hold on a minute, theres no way the Portuguese league is better than the Italian
Ian
Guest
that's quite a list. Juventus is a very good get though. One of the biggest for a single match. You'd think that Australia's overall population and distance to get here also plays a part.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Australia's A-League commenced about 10 years after USA's MLS. Currently, MLS clubs are playing friendlies during the MLS season. Much better the Euro teams come to AUS. With the alignment of European & Australian pre-seasons, who knows, in 10 years A-League may boast this sort of tour schedule:- 2014 pre-season matches in USA: Seattle Sounders vs Tottenham Hotspur Toronto FC vs. Tottenham Hotspur Columbus Crew vs. Crystal Palace Atlético Nacional vs. AS Monaco Sporting KC vs. Manchester City FC Dallas vs. Aston Villa Liverpool vs. AS Roma LA Galaxy vs. Manchester United AC Milan vs. Olympiacos Philadelphia Union vs. Crystal Palace New York Red Bulls vs. Arsenal D.C. United vs. Fulham Chicago Fire vs. Tottenham Hotspur Houston Dynamo vs. Aston Villa AS Roma vs. Manchester United Inter Milan vs. Real Madrid SJ Earthquakes vs. Atlético Madrid Manchester City vs. AC Milan Liverpool vs. Olympiacos Inter Milan vs. Manchester United Roma vs. Real Madrid Manchester City vs. Liverpool Bayern Munich vs. CD Guadalajara AS Roma vs. Inter Milan Manchester City vs. Olympiacos Real Madrid vs. Manchester United Liverpool vs. AC Milan MLS All-Stars vs. Bayern Munich Real Salt Lake vs. Club Tijuana http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2014/07/18/schedule-international-friendlies-summer-incl-mls-clubs-vs-host-epl-clubs
Brian Orange
Roar Guru
The game is being shown live in Australia on Channel 7 who are major sponsors and RAI has an agreement to show all Del Piero's games live in Italy, but not sure if it covers this game as well. I'm sure it will be covered by the betting agencies and you can hear about it anywhere in the world or on the internet.
Andrew
Guest
The Problem for this exhibition match is that Serie A cannot be shown anywhere in Australia maybe on RAI, but even then its in Italian and subject to the cash grab rights deal. Its not the 80's and 90's anymore Serie A is the 5th ranked league in Europe behind Spain, England, Germany and Portugal, no European success expect the inter fluke Its relying on ADP popularism and playing against Juve, Italy is broke at the moment and wont get many internationals travelling, maybe the Asian market, I think Juve play a match in Singapore first, hopefully it brings a few fans with them The A league should have gone for a Spanish Primera or EPL side again