On Sunday afternoon Giovanni Trapattoni, along with FAI CEO John Delaney, visited Gleeson Sports Scene in Limerick city to launch 1,000 pre-release tickets for the match against the Socceroos on Wednesday, August 12 (kick-off 7.30pm).
“I am looking forward to returning to Limerick in August to play Australia,” Giovanni Trapattoni told Leader Sport.
“The game will be a good opportunity to prepare for the important World Cup qualifier against Cyprus on September 5.
“I hope it will give everyone in the mid-west an opportunity to get behind the team against a highly-rated Australian side. Limerick is a very nice place. It’s important to us to play well, to show people what our football is about and to get more kids in the region playing football.
“We believe that the facilities are there, the stadium is really good and we believe that the fans will come to the stadium for this occasion.
“This will give the fans an opportunity to watch us. Until now they have only been able to see us on television and we wanted to change that.
“We hope people will come and join us in Thomond Park.”
Trapattoni made an appearance in Limerick following the Republic of Ireland’s one-all draw in Sofia on Saturday night - a result which should at the very least secure a World Cup play-off spot for Ireland while it also ended Bulgaria’s qualification hopes.
The Republic now trail group leaders Italy by a point while the Italians hold a game in hand over Ireland.
Ireland’s next competitive fixture is against away to Cyprus on Sept. 5 and Giovanni Trapattoni will use the game against Australia at Thomond Park as a warm-up for that critical encounter. The Republic will play a second international friendly against South Africa on Tuesday, September 8 in Thomond Park before they complete their qualifying campaign against Italy and Montenegro.
Pim Verbeek’s Australian side became the second team, mere hours after Japan, to qualify for the World Cup on Saturday following their nil-all draw away to Qatar - the Australians remain unbeaten in their 2010 campaign and should feature players like Scott McDonald (Celtic), Harry Kewell (Galatasaray) and Tim Cahill (Everton) for their visit to Limerick. The game against Australia respresents the first time the Irish senior team has ever played in Limerick and will be the first meeting of the sides since 2003 when the Irish beat the Socceroos 2-1 at Lansdowne Road.
The Republic of Ireland have clashed with South Africa on one previous occasion - nine years ago (2000) Ireland beat the Bafana Bafana in New Jersey. South Africa are coached by Brazil’s Joel Santana, will feature players like Blackburn’s Benni McCarthy and as hosts of the 2010 World Cup will become the African nation to host the World Cup.
FAI CEO John Delaney is confident that the national association can sell out both games at Thomond Park: “The idea of coming down here is to promote the games in the mid-west. We’ve had a huge reaction to them. The reaction to the games has been very, very strong. I think we’ll have a full house for both games.
“On the back of the result against Bulgaria there is momentum there. You can feel it everywhere you go. There’s a positive vibe there now.
“The game against South Africa in September will be more difficult to sell. Everyone will want to be at the first game against Australia.
“But I think, if Giovanni introduces new players to the team for the game against South Africa, people will be interested in seeing those new players play. The squad is evolving and after a competitive game against Cyprus Giovanni will be trying out players against South Africa, but I still expect that to be an exciting game. This is a great opportunity for the fans to see international football in Limerick and it should be a great occasion.”
To mark Giovanni Trapattoni’s visit to Limerick the FAI have launched 1,000 €25 pre-release tickets which will be available exclusively from Gleeson Sports Scene (25 upper William Street, Limerick) from Monday, June 8 - these pre-release tickets are limited and are expected to sell quickly.
Tickets will go on public sale at the end of June through ticketmaster.ie, through Gleeson Sports Scene in Limerick city and through a selection of ticketmaster outlets in the Munster region.
Details of these outlets will be published shortly on fai.ie. Tickets will be made available at €25 (North and South terrace), €35 (East and West terrace) and €55 (East and West stands) while 2,000 €7 tickets will be made available for schoolboy and schoolgirl clubs throughout the country.
Brian McDonnell
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