Destiny 06 – 13 Days To Go

We continue the countdown to the World Cup (South American) play-off kick-off of the 1st Leg being played in Montevideo (Saturday 12 November), bringing you up-to-date with all the headline news from around the country surrounding the crucial play-off matches.

SUPPORT THE Socceroos

Australian sports fans can show their support for the Socceroos for the upcoming matches against Uruguay, by logging onto a new interactive fans site - http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/destiny06/

Some of the features of the site include: a message board, send a photo (by mobile only) and be part of a mosaic plus information on Australia and Uruguay. There will features added as we get closer to the big games.

Socceroos WATCH

HYUNDAI A-LEAGUE Date: 28-10-05 Archie Thompson played a full game, as Melbourne Victory lost 1-0 at home against Adelaide United.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE Date: 29-10-05 Mark Schwarzer (gk) played a full game, while Mark Viduka remained on the bench, as Middlesbrough won 4-1 at home against Manchester United.

Ahmad Elrich came on in the 82nd minute, as Fulham lost 1-0 away at Fulham.

Stan Lazaridis was not in the Birmingham City squad.

Tim Cahill played a full game, as Everton won 1-0 away at Birmingham City.

Harry Kewell (rested) was not in the Liverpool squad.

  Brett Emerton and Lucas Neill both played a full games, as Blackburn Rovers lost 4-2 away at Chelsea.

  Josip Skoko was not in the Wigan Athletic squad.

  ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP Date: 29-10-05 Tony Popovic was not in the Crystal Palace squad.

  ENGLISH LEAGUE ONE Date: 29-10-05 Luke Wilkshire played a full game, as Bristol City lost 3-0 at home against Southend

  DUTCH EREDIVISIE Date: 29-10-05 Jason Culina remained on the bench, as PSV Eindhoven won 1-0 away at Twente Enschede. Tony Vidmar played a full game, as NAC Breda lost 4-1 away at RKC Waalwijk.

ITALIAN SERIE A Date: 30-10-05 Vince Grella played a full game, while Mark Bresciano (foot) was not in the squad, as Parma lost 2-0 away at Liverno. Date: 29-10-05 Zeljko Kalac (gk) remained on the bench, as AC Milan won 3-1 at home against Juventus

ROMANIAN DIVIZIA A Date: 30-10-05 Michael Thwaite (no details of his game against FCU Politechnica Timisoara)

  SPANISH PRIMERA DIVISION Date: 30-10-05 John Aloisi played a full game, as Alaves drew 0-0 at home with Cadiz

SWEDISH ALLSVENSKAN Ante Covic (gk) has finished the season with his club Hammarby on 28-10-05

SWISS SUPER LEAGUE Date: 30-10-05 Joel Griffiths (suspended) was not in the Neuchatel Xamax. Date: 29-10-05 Ljubo Milicevic was replaced in the 70th minute, as FC Thun lost 6-1 at home against FC Zurich. Scott Chipperfield played a full game and scored in the 18th minute, as FC Basel won 3-1 at home against Yverdon.

WHAT-S MAKING THE NEWS

BANS LIST

FIFA has clarified that cards from the qualifying series will carry over into the play-off-s meaning that seven players from Australia could potentially miss the second leg if they receive a card in Montevideo.

The seven players in question are Tim Cahill, Brett Emerton, Zeljko Kalac, Lucas Neill, John Aloisi, Vince Grella and Marco Bresciano.

Australia though will head into the first leg almost at full strength, unlike the Uruguyans, who have three players suspended for the first leg, two of which are first team regulars, Diego Lugano and Gustavo Verala. Omar Pouso is the third player, who is serving another game from a red card against Ecuador.

Players in the CONMEBOL qualifiers received a one-match suspension after receiving four yellow cards and players on three cards include: Paolo Montero, Alvaro Recoba, Pablo Garcia and Javier Delgado (statistics via FIFA website).

Please note: The FFA has not received any official notification of the Uruguay players that face possible bans.

REFEREES APPOINTED

The referees for the two matches have been appointed with Bo Larsen from Denmark appointed to the match in Montevideo, while the match in Sydney will be looked after by Frank De Bleeckere from Belgium.

While the FFA is pleased with the appointment of highly experienced officials from Europe over the two legs, they have not been well received by the Uruguayan coach Jorge Fossati.

He told a radio station in Montevideo that he was not happy believing it gave some sort of advantage to Australia, because the referees are neighbours of the Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink.

IT-S 50-50

Paolo Montero has said that Uruguay face a tough assignment to get past Australia and that it is an even money bet.

"It's fifty-fifty: no more, no less," he told the Daily Telegraph.