James Conway
Stadium Australia will host the final, a semi-final, a quarter final and four Group matches in Asia’s premier international football competition in January, 2015.
The Australian Socceroos will play a Group match at the Stadium on Tuesday 13 January and could feature in the finals matches, including the semi-final on Australia Day 26 January and the final on Saturday 31 January.
The competition will start on Friday 9 January in Melbourne, with the first match at Stadium Australia on Saturday 10 January. Other Asian Cup matches will be played in Brisbane, Canberra and Newcastle.
Stadium Australia managing director Daryl Kerry said he was delighted the venue had been selected to host all Sydney games during the three week, 32 match festival of football, which culminates in the final at Stadium Australia.
Under AFC Asian Cup guidelines, all football venues during the tournament will be commercially clean stadiums, with Sydney’s Olympic stadium taking on its generic name of Stadium Australia. Similarly, venues in Brisbane, Melbourne and Newcastle will take on generic names.
Australia has already qualified along with Japan, South Korea and North Korea with 12 other teams to win through to the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.
It’s fitting that the Olympic venue will be front and centre on Australia’s national day, with the first semi-final to be played at the venue on Australia Day, 26 January 2015 before the final on Saturday 31 January.
In announcing that Stadium Australia would be the major venue for the Asian Cup, AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 Local Organising Committee CEO Michael Brown said the competition would showcase the best football talent of Asia.
Mr Brown said the Socceroos’ qualifying games would be played in Melbourne on January 9, 2015; Sydney on January 13, 2015; and Brisbane on January 17, 2015.
“The four quarter finals will be played on January 22 and 23, 2015 and we are very excited that on Australia Day 2015 the first semi-final will be played at Stadium Australia (Stadium Australia).”
The best football talent from across Asia will be on show in our own backyard, including international football giants Japan and South Korea.
Mr Kerry said: “The Asian Cup offers us a further opportunity to showcase the Stadium as a world-class venue, and Sydney Australia as a fantastic place to come and visit.
“The staging of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia is just reward for the growth of football in this country. The tournament will attract hundreds of thousands of fans and will take the Stadium and Sydney to an estimated global TV audience of more than 2.5 billion people.”
More than 45,000 international visitors are expected to visit Australia during the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.
