Yorke cleared for Sydney FC's season opener

Sydney FC Captain Dwight Yorke and the five Socceroo team members rested due to niggling injuries last weekend are all fit and available for selection for the season opener against the Central Coast Mariners at Aussie Stadium on Sunday.

Yorke has recovered from a groin problem that has kept him out for the past three weeks and after doing extra training sessions all week he is “fit and available” according to Sydney FC Coach Terry Butcher.

Socceroo team members Mark Milligan, Alex Brosque, David Carney, Steve Corica and Clint Bolton missed the 2-0 win over Newcastle last Saturday and have all been named in the provisional 17-man squad for the game against the Mariners.

Fellow Socceroo Alvin Ceccoli also makes a return after missing the Newcastle match through suspension, giving Butcher a “welcome headache” as he contemplates a 15-man squad and his starting eleven for the Grand Final replay.

“We have everyone, except for the long term injuries to Jacob Timpano and Ruben Zadkovich, available and ready to play,” Butcher said. “It means some people will have to miss out and I have some tough choices but that is my job.

“It is better to be in this situation than having a whole lot of unavailable players. We have 17 fit and available and I will narrow it down to 15 for the squad and then the starting eleven on Sunday.

“Dwight has done everything expected of him this week and some extra training sessions so he is fit and putting his hand up to play. The other Socceroo players who we left out last week as a precaution have also come along nicely and we are ready to go for Sunday.”

Sydney FC officials are confident of a bumper 25,000+ crowd having already pre sold 12,500 tickets (including season passes) for the match. Fans are urged to plan their trip by PRE PURCHASING a ticket or arriving early to ensure a smooth passage into Aussie Stadium.

The predictable late-surge in Memberships has seen the number of fans who have purchased a Season Pass soar above 7300, almost triple the figure from last season.

Tickets can be pre purchased through Ticketek on 132 849, by going into any Ticketek outlet or by logging onto www.ticketek.com.au.

In March Sydney FC defeated the Central Coast Mariners at Aussie Stadium 1-0 to take out the 2005/06 Grand Final in front of 42,000 people and Aussie Stadium will once again be dripping with atmosphere on Sunday afternoon.

Sydney FC goes into the opening match of the season with some good Pre Season Cup form, winning four games, losing one and recording one draw, against the improved New Zealand Knights in Auckland.

Sydney FC Club Captain Mark Rudan said the team was eagerly anticipating the start of the season on Sunday and looking forward to running out into a sea of blue.

“As a player the first game of the season is very exciting but when we are playing our first game at home, the place we won the Grand Final, in front of our own fans, it is a day we are all looking forward to,” Rudan said.

“It has been a long off season but we have worked hard and trained well so and we can’t wait to walk out onto Aussie Stadium on Sunday and see the fans dressed in blue getting behind us as they did last year.”

Sydney FC Squad: Clint Bolton (gk), Iain Fyfe, Alvin Ceccoli, Mark Rudan, Ufuk Talay, Robbie Middleby, David Zdrilic, Steve Corica, Sasho Petrovski, David Carney, Jeremy Brockie, Alex Brosque, Terry McFlynn, Mark Milligan, Dwight Yorke, Justin Pasfield (gk) and Nikolai Topor-Stanley.

A-League Round 1

Sydney FC vs Central Coast Mariners
Sunday August 27, 2006
Aussie Stadium, Sydney
Kick off: 5:00pm (local/AEST)

Live Coverage on Fox Sports Two of this match and the preceding match between the New Zealand Knights and Newcastle Jets from 2:55pm (AEST).