Qantas Socceroos to take on Romania

The Qantas Socceroos will play an international friendly match against Romania in Marbella, Spain on Wednesday 6 February 2013.

Football Federation Australia (FFA) today announced that the Qantas Socceroos will play an international friendly match against Romania in Marbella, Spain on Wednesday 6 February 2013.

Qantas Socceroos Head Coach Holger Osieck is looking forward to the first match of the new year as his team embarks on the final stages of their qualification campaign for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

“This is a welcome opportunity to check on the performance on some of our players against Romania who are a very good team and will be a very challenging opponent,” said Osieck.

“With the recent matches in the Korea Republic and Hong Kong we have seen some new players added to the group and as a result the competition for places in our group has increased.

“This match will not be just a friendly, but also a good test for the players ahead of our important qualifier against Oman.”

This will be the first meeting between the Qantas Socceroos and Romania at senior men-s international level.

The Qantas Socceroos are currently 36th in the FIFA Men-s Rankings with Romania in 33rd position.

This will also be the Qantas Socceroos last international friendly match before their next 2014 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifier against Oman at Sydney-s Stadium Australia on Tuesday 26 March. Romania are currently in third position of Group D in their 2014 FIFA World Cup European qualifiers and will also face Poland in an international friendly on Friday 2 February in Malaga, Spain.

The match will be played in Marbella and will be broadcast Live and Exclusive by FOX SPORTS in Australia.

Ticketing details will be released at a later date.

Romania v Qantas Socceroos Wednesday 6 February 2013 Venue TBC, Marbella, Spain Kick-Off time: 8:00pm CET (6:00am AEDT, Thursday 7 February 2013)

CET = Central European time (UTC + 1) AEDT = Australian Eastern Daylight Time (UTC + 11)

The Qantas Socceroos return to Australia in 2013, for the FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Oman at Sydney-s Stadium Australia, Tuesday 26 March, followed by Jordan at Docklands Stadium in Melbourne on Tuesday 11 June, before returning to Stadium Australia for the Iraq match, on Tuesday, 18 June.

Tickets for both matches at Stadium Australia are available now by clicking here or via phone on 132 849.