Tickets Go On Sale For Historic Match Between Aust

Tickets for next month's historic match between Australia and Iraq go on sale today. The match, to be played at Sydney's Telstra Stadium on Saturday 26 March, will be a rare opportunity for local fans to see the Socceroos in action as they continue their build-up towards the FIFA Confederations Cup in June and the FIFA World Cup qualifying

Tickets for next month's historic match between Australia and Iraq go on sale today.  The match, to be played at Sydney's Telstra Stadium on Saturday 26 March, will be a rare opportunity for local fans to see the Socceroos in action as they continue their build-up towards the FIFA Confederations Cup in June and the FIFA World Cup qualifying matches later this year.

Tickets are on sale from 9am, Tuesday 15 February and are available through all Ticketek agencies, Ph 132 849 or www.ticketek.com.au

Tickets will be available in three categories starting from $25 for an adult, $12.50 for a concession and $50 for a family of four (plus transaction fee).

The previous occasion the two nations met at senior level was in 1973 during the qualification series for the FIFA World Cup with Australia recording a 3-1 win and 0-0 draw before ultimately qualifying for the 1974 FIFA World Cup.  More recently the Qantas Under 23's were defeated 1-0 by Iraq in the quarter finals at last year's Olympic Games.  Iraq, coached by 2004 Asian Football Confederation Coach of the year Adnan Hamd Majeed, reached the semi finals the 2004 Olympic Games and is currently ranked 44 on the FIFA World Rankings - 14 places above the Socceroos.

"The match against Iraq will be another important milestone on the road to Germany in June for the Confederations Cup and our World Cup matches later this year," said Socceroos coach Frank Farina.

"Iraq showed their quality at last year's Olympic Games and the match will be an extremely competitive contest though no doubt all our players will be looking to impress especially in front of the home fans." President of the Iraq Football Association Mr Hussain Saeed Mohamed said his country was looking forward to taking on Australia. "We are delighted our friends at Football Federation Australia have extended this invitation to us," said Mr Mohamed. "Having spoken to our players about this, I know they are already very excited at the prospect of playing in front of a large Australian crowd and against players who are true stars of the game."

The Socceroos will tackle Indonesia in Perth three days later with proceeds going towards victims of the Asian Tsunami disaster.

The FFA is urging supporters to utilise public transport and to arrive at Telstra Stadium early to avoid delays due to the fact the Royal Easter Show will also be taking place in the Sydney Olympic Park Precinct on March 26.

Gates will open at 5pm with the match commencing at 7pm.

For further public transport information please go to www.131500.com.au or Ph 131500.

MATCH DETAILS Australia v Iraq 7pm, Saturday 26 March 2005 Telstra Stadium, Sydney

TICKETING DETAILS Tickets go on sale to the public at 9am on Tuesday 15 February through all Ticketek outlets, Ph 132 849 or www.ticketek.com.au

Category - Adult - Concession - Family

CATEGORY A - $55 - N/A - N/A CATEGORY B - $35 - $17.50 - $70.00 CATEGORY C - $25 - $12.50 - $50.00 (Special Iraq Supporters Section in this category) * A $7.95 transaction fee per booking applies.

For further ticketing information please click on the following link:

http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/public/article/show.asp?articleid=6596