Re-writing Socceroos History - 2004 OFC Nations Cup Match 1 - Australia v New Zealand

The Socceroos' quest to Germany begins in Adelaide with the OFC Nations Cup - with the opening round doubling as the main qualification stage for Oceania towards the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Australia face New Zealand first, with Tahiti, Fiji, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands to follow - in a single round-robin group stage held in Adelaide. The nations in 1st and 2nd will progress to both the OFC Nations Cup Final - to be held over 2 legs later in 2004 - and the final OFC World Cup Qualification round, which will also be held over two legs, in 2005. The nation that finishes first will host the second leg of the OFC Nations Cup Final, and the following OFC World Cup Qualifying Playoff. The winner of the OFC Nations Cup Final will also go on to represent the OFC at the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup in Germany, prior to the OFC World Cup Qualifying Playoff. With the release of the Crawford Report, Soccer Australia has been wound up, with the Australian Soccer Association now forming the governing body for soccer in Australia. The Australian Soccer Association have also begun to explore a move out of the Oceanian Football Confederation, into the Asian Football Confederation - citing disagreements with FIFA over OFC's qualification slots as the primary issue. Despite strong performances in both 1998 and 2002, OFC still have not been rewarded with an automatic slot for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, with the winner of the OFC Qualification Playoff in 2005 drawn to play-off once again with the 5th placed nation from CONMEBOL. --- Played on Professional difficulty with 6 minute halves. Twitch saw it live! Subscribe and notifications on at twitch.com/wiisardnic for surprise live matches, and VOD from the previous 7 days