2008 Australia national soccer team season

This page summarises the Australia national soccer team fixtures and results in 2008.

Australia 2008 football season

Australia2008 season

Chairmen| Frank Lowy
Manager| Pim Verbeek

Home colours

Away colours

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<- 2007

2009 ->

## Summary

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The main focus for the National Team was to attempt to qualify for their third World Cup. The 2010 campaign was Australia's first as a member of the AFC and they entered the qualification in the Third Round drawn into a group containing Qatar, Iraq and China. Matches took place from February until June and Australia had already succeeded in moving through the next round when they lost to China at home in the final game. Despite this, they still topped the group.

Fourth Round qualifying had Australia in a group with Bahrain, Japan, Qatar and Uzbekistan. By the end of the calendar year, they had played three games for three wins and were sitting top of the group with five games yet to be played.

They also enjoyed a come from behind friendly win away to the Netherlands who were ranked four in the world at the time. Australia finished the year ranked 28 on the FIFA Rankings.

## Record

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Type  | GP  | W  | D  | L  | GF  | GA

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Friendly matches | 4  | 2  | 2  | 0  | 5  | 3
World Cup qualifiers | 9  | 6  | 1  | 2  | 13  | 3
Total | 13 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 6

## Match results

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### Friendlies

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Singapore v  Australia 22 March Friendly|  Singapore | 0–0|  Australia | Kallang, Singapore

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|  | (Report) |  | Stadium: National Stadium
Attendance: 6,282
Referee: Prayoon Veerapool (Thailand)

Australia v  Ghana 23 May Friendly|  Australia | 1–0|  Ghana | Sydney, Australia

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| Sterjovski 46' | (Report) |  | Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium
Attendance: 29,914
Referee: Hajime Matsuo (Japan)

Australia v  South Africa 19 August Friendly|  Australia | 2–2|  South Africa | London, England

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| Sterjovski 25'
Kennedy 38' | (Report) |  21' Nkosi
58' Modise | Stadium: Loftus Road
Attendance: 10,000
Referee: Howard Webb (England)

Netherlands v  Australia 6 September Friendly|  Netherlands | 1–2|  Australia | Eindhoven, Netherlands

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| Huntelaar 6' | (Report) |  45+1' (pen.) Kewell
76' Kennedy | Stadium: Philips Stadion
Attendance: 22,500
Referee: Martin Atkinson (England)

### World Cup qualifiers

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Australia v  Qatar 6 February Third Round|  Australia | 3–0|  Qatar | Melbourne, Australia

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| Kennedy 11'
Cahill 17'
Bresciano 33' | [ (Report)] |  | Stadium: Telstra Dome
Attendance: 50,969
Referee: Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh (Malaysia)

China v  Australia 26 March Third Round|  China | 0–0|  Australia | Kunming, China

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|  | [ (Report)] |  | Stadium: Kunming Stadium
Referee: Mohamed Al Saeedi (United Arab Emirates)

Australia v  Iraq 1 June Third Round|  Australia | 1–0|  Iraq | Brisbane, Australia

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| Kewell 47' | [ (Report)] |  | Stadium: Suncorp Stadium
Attendance: 48,678
Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

Iraq v  Australia 7 June Third Round|  Iraq | 1–0|  Australia | Dubai, United Arab Emirates

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| Mohammed 28' | [ (Report)] |  | Stadium: Al-Rashid Stadium
Attendance: 8,000
Referee: Kazuhiko Matsumura (Japan)

Qatar v  Australia 14 June Third Round|  Qatar | 1–3|  Australia | Doha, Qatar

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| Ibrahim 89' | [ (Report)] |  17', 56' Emerton
74' Kewell | Stadium: Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium
Attendance: 12,000
Referee: Lee Gi-Young (South Korea)

Australia v  China 22 June Third Round|  Australia | 0–1|  China | Sydney, Australia

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|  | [ (Report)] |  12' Sun | Stadium: Stadium Australia
Attendance: 70,054
Referee: Khalil Al Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia)

Uzbekistan v  Australia 10 September Fourth Round|  Uzbekistan | 0–1|  Australia | Tashkent, Uzbekistan

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|  | [ (Report)] |  26' Chipperfield | Stadium: Pakhtakor Stadium
Attendance: 34,000
Referee: Saad Kamil Al-Fadhli (Kuwait)

Australia v  Qatar 15 October Fourth Round|  Australia | 4–0|  Qatar | Brisbane, Australia

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| Cahill 8'
Emerton 17', 58'
Kennedy 76' | [ (Report)] |  | Stadium: Suncorp Stadium
Attendance: 34,320
Referee: Khalil Al Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia)

Bahrain v  Australia 19 November Fourth Round|  Bahrain | 0–1|  Australia | Manama, Bahrain

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|  | [ (Report)] |  90+3' Bresciano | Stadium: National Stadium
Attendance: 10,000
Referee: Masoud Moradi (Iran)

## Goal scorers

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Player  | Friendlies  | FIFA World Cup qual.  | Goals

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Emerton | \-  | 4  | 4
Kennedy | 2  | 2  | 4
Kewell | 1  | 2  | 3
Bresciano | \-  | 2  | 2
Cahill | \-  | 2  | 2
Sterjovski | 2  | \-  | 2
Chipperfield | \-  | 1  | 1

## References

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* v
* t
* e

Season results for Australia national soccer teams

Men's senior|

* 1922–49
* 1950–79
* 1980–99
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* ~~2020~~
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

Men's unofficial matches|

* Unofficial

Women's senior|

* 1975–1999
* 2000–2009
* 2010–2019
* 2020–present

* v
* t
* e

2007–08 in Australian soccer

« 2006–07

2008–09 »

| Domestic leagues|

* A-League (Pre-Season Challenge Cup, Grand Final)

|

International competitions|

* AFC Champions League ('07, '08)
* 2008 FIFA Club World Cup

National team|

| Men's|

* Results ('07, '08)
* 2007 AFC Asian Cup

|

Women's|

* 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup

Club seasons

A-League|

* Adelaide United
* Central Coast Mariners
* Melbourne Victory
* Newcastle Jets
* Perth Glory
* Queensland Roar
* Sydney FC
* Wellington Phoenix

* v
* t
* e

2008–09 in Australian soccer

« 2007–08

2009–10 »

National teams|

| Men's|

* Senior (2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying, 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualifying)
* U23 (2008 Summer Olympics finals)
* U20 (2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup qualifying)
* U17 (2008 AFF U-16 Youth Championship, 2008 AFC U-16 Championship finals)

|

Women's|

* Senior (2008 AFF Women's Championship)
* U20 (2009 AFC U-19 Women's Championship qualifying)

League competitions|

| Men's|

* A-League (Grand Final)

|

Women's|

* W-League (Grand Final)

Cup competitions|

* A-League Pre-Season Challenge Cup

Youth competitions|

* National Youth League

Club seasons

A-League|

* Adelaide United
* Central Coast Mariners
* Melbourne Victory
* Newcastle Jets
* Perth Glory
* Queensland Roar
* Sydney FC
* Wellington Phoenix

W-League|

* Adelaide United
* Canberra United
* Central Coast Mariners
* Melbourne Victory
* Newcastle Jets
* Perth Glory
* Queensland Roar
* Sydney FC

* A-League transfers
* W-League transfers

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