The Socceroos have received confirmation of their World Cup qualifying schedule against Honduras but are still awaiting details of the match venue and time for the away clash.
Australia will open their two-leg series in Honduras on Friday, November 10 and return for the home fixture at ANZ Stadium on Wednesday, November 15.
While the match in Honduras was expected to be played at San Pedro Sula, FFA said it had yet to receive confirmation of a venue or kick-off time.
The winner of the two-leg series qualifies for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
g
Guest
Fair enough. i do agree with your summation though.
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
That's not actually correct. The home team for the first game doesn't have a 20+ hour flight as part of their pre-game itinerary. Both teams then have the same trip for the second game. So, its obviously very different preparations for the first game. Having said that, if we are good enough we should win regardless. The extra flight won't be the reason we don't. I imagine our dismal conversion rate from shots taken to actual goal scores will be more likely be the reason if we don't get past Honduras.
g
Guest
Exactly! People are already coming up with reasons-excuses, should we lose.
Tommo
Guest
Both sides have same conditions. No advantage to either.
Cool N Cold
Guest
Yes, that is the concern. If flying on commercial airline, probably will arrive at Sydney on 13 Nov at 8:50 AM. Flying west from America to Australia loses one day automatically. So, probably there will be a charter flight again. That means huge cost to FFA. Can the gate revenue at Sydney stadium cover the cost? Maybe, that is one of the reasons that FFA is so demanding about having no need to qualify for the 2018 World Cup through play-off matches. That is why Ange is so pressured. A Tuesday night match? If it is a Saturday or Sunday match, many fans may fly up or down to attend. However, that is not. The good side is that the Honduras team may not have the financial budget to fly on a charter flight. That is exactly the same as what happened to the Uruguay team in the 2005 inter-continental play-off match against socceroos.
mattq
Roar Rookie
man I had pencilled in a mega Tuesday 7/11 with the socceroos around 11am then the melb cup. bugger
KJ
Roar Rookie
Looking at commercial flights, 26hrs was the fastest I could find! That only allows 2 or 2.5 days for recovery (as you can’t just hop straight onto a commercial flight.
KJ
Roar Rookie
That's such a fast turnaround for such a long trip from Honduras to Australia! Almost too soon.