A-League Round 9 - Facts & Figures

Uruguayan Spotlight

With the focus on the Socceroos turning to the all-important Powerade Series match (FIFA World Cup qualifier) in November, there are two Hyundai A-League players who will be given increased attention in the coming weeks.

Uruguayan midfielder Mateo Corbo was signed by the Newcastle Jets in mid-2005, and arrived in Australia following several years in the Uruguayan first division, as well as stints in Spain (Real Oviedo), Paraguay (Asuncion) and England (Oxford United). Corbo’s main Uruguayan club was River Plate, where he played alongside current Uruguay national team defender Diego Lopez in 1996.

Recent Queensland Roar Uruguayan signing Osvaldo Carro, aged 31, has played virtually his entire career in Uruguay, with Juventud (1990 to 1996), Fenix (1997 to 1998) and Plaza Colonia (2000 to 2005). Throughout this time he came up against several current Uruguay national team players, and even put a goal past current Uruguay goalkeeper Gustavo Munua, who was playing for Nacional at the time (2003).

The Uruguay connection in the Hyundai A-League does not stop there, with Alex Brosque (Queensland Roar), Leo Carle (Central Coat Mariners) and brother Nick Carle (Newcastle Jets) – who have all represented Australia at various age levels with distinction – all having Uruguayan parentage.

Twenty-five year old Leo Carle spent almost a year with Uruguayan giants Nacional back in 2000-2001, where his teammates included current Uruguayan national team players Richard Morales, Gustavo Munua and Mario Regueiro.

A Century for Petrie

After scoring two goals last weekend – his third and fourth goals in the 2005-06 Hyundai A-League – Central Coast Mariners striker Stewart Petrie needs just one more goal to notch up his 100th career goal at national league level.

Dundee-born Petrie, who commenced his national league career at Scottish club Forfar Athletic in 1990, scored 84 goals in various level of the Scottish league until arriving in Australia in early 2003. His 37 league goals at Forfar (1990 to 1993) included 21 goals in the 1992-93 season, while a further 47 league goals at Dunfermline Athletic (1993 to 2003) included a 13 goal tally in 1995-96, which assisted Dunfermline to the 1996-97 Scottish Premier League. With a further 10 goals at Northern Spirit (2003 to 2004) and one goal with Geylang United (Singapore, 2004), his career tally stood at 95 goals from 436 national league appearances at the commencement of the 2005-06 Hyundai A-League season.

Petrie’s goalscoring prowess was enhanced even further when he notched the winner in Central Coast’s 1-0 pre-season cup final victory over Perth Glory in August.

Goals Galore

After a relatively slow start in the goalscoring stakes, the Hyundai A-League has topped 2.7 goals per game for the first time this season.

Since the end of Round 2, when the average amount of goals scored per match was just 2.0, the goalscoring rate as risen consistently; with 17 goals scored in last weekend’s round of Hyundai A-League matches, the average number of goals scored in all games now stands at 2.71.

The current average goals per game in the Hyundai A-League lies well ahead of the current rate in England (Premiership) and France (Ligue), a little ahead of Italy (Serie A) and Spain (Primera Division), and just behind Germany (Bundesliga).

Goals per game, 2005-06 (as at 18 October 2005)