Qantas Socceroo icon and Australian sporting legend Mark Bosnich is in line to make his first top-flight domestic football appearance for nearly seven years on Sunday, when the Central Coast Mariners take on the Queensland Roar.
Qantas Socceroo icon and Australian sporting legend Mark Bosnich is in line to make his first top-flight domestic football appearance for nearly seven years on Sunday, when the Central Coast Mariners take on the Queensland Roar.
Bosnich, who last week penned a seven-round guest player stint with the Mariners, is competing with Qantas Young Socceroos goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne for a starting place, with incumbent shot stopper Danny Vukovic commencing a five-match suspension.
Should Bosnich take to the pitch against the Roar, he will be making his first top-flight domestic football appearance since starting for Chelsea away to Everton in Round 12 of the 2001/02 English Premier League season.
Joining Bosnich in the Mariners- starting eleven calculations is Qantas Socceroo Mile Jedinak, who has been sorely missed by the yellow and navy for much of the past two months with a groin injury.
Jedinak has trained fully throughout the week alongside fellow Australian youth international Dylan Macallister, who has shaken off a rib concern to bolster the Mariners- frontline options that also include Nik Mrdja, Sasho Petrovski and Matt Simon.
Combined, Bosnich, Jedinak and Macallister offer the Mariners three top quality options that have immeasurably boosted the Mariners- bid for their breakthrough win of season four.
“Considering the squad that we-ve had for both of our opening games, with a wee bit of luck we could have won both games and could be sitting top of the Hyundai A-League,” said Mariners Football Manager Lawrie McKinna.
“There have been a lot of positives to come out of both games, Pedj Bojic has been outstanding, Boogaard is back now, Matt Simon is back and doing well, Petrovski is doing well and Caceres and Elrich are getting better with every game.
“It looks like Jedinak and Macallister will be up for selection on Sunday, as we said in the first week of the season, it-ll take us about two or three weeks for our squad to get bigger, which puts more pressure on players to perform, which is what it-s all about.”
The Mariners will go up against one of their bogey teams at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday, with the Roar responsible for one of the Mariners- more unenviable Hyundai A-League records.
After an amazing two-year monopoly of draws between the two sides, which saw a record streak of five consecutive Hyundai A-League stalemates from October 2005 until December 2006, the most recent history between the Mariners and the Roar has favoured the latter, who have won three of the past four Hyundai A-League encounters between the two sides.
In nine Hyundai A-League match ups, the Mariners have defeated the Roar on only one occasion, that being at the venue for Sunday-s match – Suncorp Stadium, in September of last year.
In all competitions, the Mariners have claimed three wins in total against the Roar and suffered four defeats, with seven fixtures ending all square.
The Mariners have scored 17 goals in response to the Roar-s 18, with Mariners midfielder Matthew Osman the only current Mariners squad member eligible for selection for Sunday-s match to have contributed to the aforementioned tally in the Hyundai A-League.
“You can-t leave your run in the Hyundai A-League for too long, we-ve got a full year to plan for with the AFC Champions League to come and it-s very important that we start getting results,” said McKinna.
“Going to Queensland this weekend will be very hard, we saw at the weekend that they totally dominated Adelaide and they-re very hard to play against at Suncorp Stadium.
“We-ve had a few good results up there and hopefully we-ll continue that.”
Queensland Roar vs. Central Coast Mariners
Suncorp Stadium – Sunday, 31 August 2008, Kick off 5pm
Position Defender
DOB 9 Apr, 1984
Height 180cm
Weight 75kg
Position Midfielder
DOB 19 Feb, 1987
Height 179cm
Weight 74kg
Position Defender
DOB 5 Sep, 1988
Height 180cm
Weight 77kg
Position Midfielder
DOB 29 Dec, 1979
Height 179cm
Weight 78kg
Position Striker
DOB 30 Nov, 1978
Height 186cm
Weight 87kg
Position Midfielder
DOB 10 Jan, 1982
Height 178cm
Weight 84kg
Position Striker
DOB 17 May, 1982
Height 191cm
Weight 92kg
Position Defender
DOB 6 Nov, 1978
Height 193cm
Weight 92kg
Position Defender
DOB 24 Aug, 1974
Height 180cm
Weight 74kg
Position Defender
DOB 14 Aug, 1986
Height 188cm
Weight 88kg
Position Midfielder
DOB 29 Jul, 1983
Height 183cm
Weight 75kg
Position Defender
DOB 13 Aug, 1984
Height 187cm
Weight 85kg
Position Striker
DOB 22 Jan, 1986
Height 188cm
Weight 79kg
Position Midfielder
DOB 30 May, 1981
Height 183cm
Weight 77kg
Position Striker
DOB 5 Mar, 1975
Height 180cm
Weight 80kg
Position Midfielder
DOB 3 Aug, 1984
Height 189cm
Weight 88kg
Position Goalkeeper
DOB 13 Jan, 1989
Height 194cm
Weight 84kg
Position Goalkeeper
DOB 13 Jan, 1972
Height 188cm
Weight 90kg
The Mariners- Hyundai A-League 2008/09 campaign continues at Brisbane-s Suncorp Stadium this Sunday, 31 August, when the Mariners face the Queensland Roar. Kick off is at 5pm.
The Mariners are next at their Bluetongue Stadium home on Saturday, 20 September, when they host season two Champions and Premiers the Melbourne Victory in Round 5. Kick off is at 7pm.
Tickets for this match are now on sale from Ticketek outlets, from the Ticketek website – www.ticketek.com.au, or via phone on 132 849.
Mariners Memberships for the Hyundai A-League 2008/09 season are now on sale at www.ccmariners.com.au.
