With the Socceroos in town, football is the focus of our sporting calendar this weekend. The Aussies have been in camp all week preparing to take on the Costa Ricans and will need to be on their game in coach Ange Postecoglou’s first international in charge. Of course there’s plenty more sport to be played before the teams march onto the field in Sydney on Tuesday night. Here’s our weekly glimpse at what we’ll have our eye on this weekend.
A new round of A-League kicks off tonight, with Sydney FC making the journey south to take on Melbourne Heart. The Sky Blues had an incredible victory last weekend against Victory, beating the blue half of Melbourne 3-2 having been forced to play with 10-men for over an hour. The Heart are a side under pressure and although they’re been playing some good football under John Aloisi they will be desperate for points when they welcome Frank Farina’s men.
The Sydney versus Melbourne football rivalry will be reprised on Saturday night when the Western Sydney Wanderers welcome Melbourne Victory in the glamour clash of round six in the A-League. Both sides are flying high after strong starts to the season and will be keen to reassert their title ambitions. The Wanderers were lucky to get over the Heart last weekend via a Shannon Cole goal, while the Victory will be hoping to bounce back from their disappointing loss.
Our Wallabies and Kangaroos will again be jumping into action this weekend as their European tours continue. The Wallabies next challenge is against Ireland after they easily accounted for Italy last weekend. The Irish are always a tough proposition on home soil and retiring captain Brian O’Driscoll will be chasing a final win over Australia after he was dropped from the British Lions side for the Third Test that toured our shores recently.
The Kangaroos should have an easier time of it when they come up against the United States. The Stars and Stripes have been the surprise packet of the Rugby Leaue World Cup, with the minnows on track to qualify for the quarter finals. However complacency should be the only thing the Aussies will have to be mindful of as they continue their quest to regain the world championship title. We’ll have replays of both these matches as well as all the other internationals being played, across the weekend.
It’s shaping up as a great weekend to stay indoors with the inclement weather about, so head down to Strathfield Sports Club this weekend, where it will be raining goals. Make sure you join us on Tuesday also when the Socceroos tackle the Costa Ricans in what will no doubt be a defining match ahead of the next year’s FIFA World Cup.
Damien Bellemore