Socceroos at full strength for Solomon Islands Series

The Socceroos Head Coach Guus Hiddink has named a full-strength squad for Australia's Powerade Series matches against the Solomon Islands in early September.

With a chance to progress to the next round of FIFA World Cup 2006 qualification at stake, Hiddink has taken no chances in selecting his strongest possible squad.

"We won’t be taking any chances with the all important first qualifying matches against the Solomon Islands," said Hiddink.

"So we have picked our strongest squad, and all the players are desperate to play, play well, and stake their claim for November and beyond."

"It is vital that we defeat the Solomon Islands because otherwise our world cup dreams will be over. If we stumble then there will be no November."

Included in the 22-man squad are two Hyundai A-League players Sasho Petrovski from Sydney FC and Archie Thompson from Melbourne Victory who will face each other in the opening round of the competition this Sunday at Aussie Stadium.

In addition to the squad, five players from Hyundai A-League clubs have been added as train-on squad additions but will be made available to their clubs for their round two matches.

"It is important that the players that are playing in Australia know they are in the running for selection so bringing in these players will give me an opportunity to assess them and also get them used to being in the national team environment," added Hiddink.

The winner of the home-and away series will earn the right to face the fifth-placed South American nation in November for the final place at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

SBS TV will shown live coverage of the match from Aussie Stadium in Sydney.

Socceroos Squad

John Aloisi, Marco Bresciano, Tim Cahill, Scott Chipperfield, Jason Culina, Ahmad Elrich, Brett Emerton, Vince Grella, Zeljko Kalac, Harry Kewell, Stan Lazaridis, Jon McKain, Craig Moore, Lucas Neill, Sasho Petrovski, Tony Popovic, Mark Schwarzer, Josip Skoko, Archie Thompson, Tony Vidmar, Mark Viduka, Luke Wilkshire.

Train-on squad members: Michael Beauchamp, Clint Bolton, Simon Colosimo, Iain Fyfe, Jade North.

MATCH DETAILS

Australia vs Solomon Islands
Saturday September 3, 2005
Aussie Stadium, Sydney.   Kick-Off: 7:30pm

Tickets available from Ticketek.com.au or call 132 849.