Canberra stars in the news.

Socceroo Carl Valeri on the move? Ned Zelic on SBS catch his video here during the week. Nikolai Topor-Stanley plays centre-back for Olyroos! Kaz Patafta, Shaun Ontong, Caitlin Munoz, Amy Taylor and Adam Casey replaced by Irish popstar!


Carl Valeri's contract is up in twelve months. How many more times will he have played for the Socceroos by then?

And then he's a free agent. So don't be surprised to see Carl move on from his Serie B side, Grosseto in the next few weeks. But where to?

Serie A, or a top Serie B club I reckon but you never know. Holland could be the go, although with an Italian agent I expect him to stay in Italy.

Nikolai Topor-Stanley played a rare game at centre-back for the Olyroos last night. They drew with Chile 1-1 in Darwin. FFA Release at the very end of this post.

Former Canberra Croatia now Canberra FC Ned Zelic was interviewed on SBS today and you can see Ned in his tourist cart with Scott McIntyre giving his thoughts on playing football in Georgia. Yes Ned is still playing!

Kaz Patafta and Shaun Ontong. Both Canberra lads are now at Newcastle Jets.

Kaz played in the recent 1-0 defeat of the Mariners whilst Shaun is out for three months with a foot injury. Cruel world football. We wish Shaun, who was a recent guest on Nearpost radio a speedy recovery.

Better news for Adam Casey. The Sydney FC forward/winger come right back is back playing after breaking his leg early last season. He played in the recent 0-0 game against Blacktown before being replaced by Deltra's boyfriend Irish popstar Brian McFadden. Good to see Adam back.

Talking recently from Sydney FC, Adam said, "When I look at the talent around the dressing room, there's some great players, but I'm determined to work hard and earn my place."

Caitlin Munoz joins fellow Canberrans Amy Chapman and Lydia Williams as the Matildas head to China with a very young side.

And a former Matilda, Amy Taylor, loved her time in Canberra, playing for Tuggeranong United, Canberra City ACTAS under Katrina Neuss before being a Matildas for 8 years. Wally Hovell and Neuss were just two of the locals Amy mentioned in an interview for the Nearpost which you can hear in coming weeks.

For now she's WIN TV Sports Presenter and host of Football Superstar which airs on Thursday on Fox 8 at 7:35pm. Amy talks about the show on Tuesday on Nearpost radio.

Olyroos v Chile.

Qantas Under 23s Draw with Chile

The Qantas Under 23s played out an entertaining 1-all draw against the Chile Under 23s tonight in front of 1,780 fans at the Darwin Football Stadium. Kristian Sarkies opened the scoring for the Qantas Under 23s from the penalty spot in the 27th minute and Felipe Seymour equalised for the Chileans in the 67th minute with a clinical finish from inside the box.

Qantas Under 23s Head Coach Graham Arnold made 10 changes to the line-up for tonight's match with Mark Milligan the only player to start both games.

The match began at the same frenetic pace that was seen on Friday evening with the Chilean having the first attempt on goal in the 3rd minute, but five minutes later Kristian Sarkies had the Qantas Under 23s first shot which was expertly tipped over the bar by Gregory Saavedra in the Chilean goal.

The Qantas Under 23s continued to apply the pressure with Nikita Rukavytsya netting in the 21st minute but the goal was disallowed for off-side. But the Qantas Under 23s were on the scoreboard in the 27th minute when Kristian Sarkies calmly slotted home a penalty after David Williams had his shirt pulled in the box in a goal scoring opportunity.

Nikita Rukavytsya nearly doubled the lead in the 41st minute when his deft control in the box allowed him to unleash a stinging shot to the near post, but again Saavedra was on hand to make another crucial save.

After the half-time break, the Qantas Under 23s continued to push forward and had the bulk of possession and scoring opportunities. Had it not been for the goalkeeping heroics of Gregory Saavedra, who made a number of saves and interceptions, the Qantas Under 23s could have extended their lead on a number of occasions.

Just after the hour mark, Neil Kilkenny put Michael Zullo through but Saavedra was quick off his line and cleared the ball from Zullo's feet outside the area..

Chile's patience paid off midway through the second half when Felipe Seymour finished off a one-on-one opportunity against the Qantas Under 23s goalkeeper, Chris O'Connor, shooting low and hard to the bottom left corner of the goal.

After the match Graham Arnold was again pleased by with the performance of his players.

"Our players again performed well up against very good opposition tonight," said Arnold

"The purpose of this camp was for me to make critical selection decisions and also to prepare the players for the Beijing Olympic Games,"

"Based on that, this camp has been extremely successful, we have been very well looked after by everyone here in Darwin and the effort of all the boys could not be faulted.

"Now my coaching staff and I have a very difficult task in selecting the final squad that will go to the Olympic Games," concluded Arnold.

The Qantas Under 23s will take time out from their training camp in Darwin and will conduct a football coaching clinic tomorrow afternoon with Northern Territory junior football players before heading home on Tuesday.

The Australian Olympic Men's Football team will be named by the Australian Olympic Committee on Friday 4 July 2008 in Sydney.

-ends-



Match Details:
Qantas Under 23s 1 (Kristian Sarkies 27' (penalty))
Chile Under 23s 1 (Felipe Seymour 67')
Sunday 29 June 2008
Darwin Football Stadium, Darwin Australia
Referee: Peter Green (Brisbane)
Assistant Referees: Tim Lay (Darwin) & Rohan Kelly (Darwin)
Fourth Official: Maurice D'Arrigo (Darwin)
Crowd: 1,780

Qantas Under 23s: 1.Chris O'Connor (gk), 3.Trent McClenahan, 5.Mark Milligan (Captain), 6.Nikolai Topor-Stanley, 7.Neil Kilkenny, 8.Kristian Sarkies, 9.Nick Ward (2.Jason Hoffman 65'), 10.Nikita Rukavytsya (20.Matt Simon 65'), 12.Nigel Boogaard (16.Robert Cornthwaite 67'), 15.David Williams (17.Michael Zullo 56'), 19.James Holland (4.Billy Celeski 70').

Substitutes Not Used: 18.Tando Velaphi (gk), 11.Tarek Elrich, 13.Troy Hearfield, 14.Nathan Burns.

Yellow Cards: Billy Celeski 73', Jason Hoffman 84'.

Red Cards: Nil

Chile Under 23s: 1.Gregory Saavedra (gk), 2.Marcelo Diaz, 3.Eugenio Mena, 4.Bruno Romo, 5.Bastian Arce, 6.Sebastian Mendez, 7.Felipe Seymour, 8.Angel Rojas (16.Sebastian Barrientos 56'), 9.Eduardo Vargas, 10.Esteban Paredes (Captain) (15.Fabian Torres 90'), 13.Esteban Saez (11.Boris Sa gredo 25').

Substitutes Not Used: 12.Fabian Cerda (gk), 14.Sebastian Diaz, 17.Lucas Dominguez, 18.Matias Campos.

Yellow Cards: Eugenio Mena,27', Esteban Paredes 34'.

Red Cards: Nil



Previous Match:

Qantas Under 23s 3 (Aaron Downes 20'/68', Troy Hearfield 76')
Chile Under 23s 4 (Esteban Paredes 26'/85', Boris Sagredo 47', Eduardo Vargas 82')
Friday 27 June 2008
Darwin Football Stadium, Darwin Australia
Referee: Ben Williams (Canberra)
Assistant Referees: Mark Finestone (Darwin) & Ned Sparkes (Darwin)
Fourth Official: Rohan Kelly (Darwin)
Crowd:1,404

Qantas Under 23s: 18.Justin Pasfield (gk), 5.Mark Milligan, 6.Bruce Djite (10.Nikita Rukavysta 68'), 9.Tarek Elrich, 14.Billy Celeski, 15.Leigh Broxham (23.Nick Ward 79'), 17.Aaron Downes (16.Robert Cornthwaite 86'), 19.Mark Bridge (captain) (4.Michael Zullo 83'), 21.Dario Vidosic (7.Neil Kilkenny 67'), 22.Troy Hearfield, 24.Adam D'Apuzzo.

Substitutes Not Used: 1.Chris O'Connor (gk), 11.Jason Hoffman, 12.Nigel Boogaard, 28.Trent McClenahan.

Yellow Cards: Leigh Broxham 47', Adam D'Apuzzo 50', Aaron Downes 82'.

Red Cards: Nil

Chile Under 23s: 12.Fabian Cerda, 2.Marcelo Diaz, 3.Bruno Romo, 4.Eugenio Mena, 5.Bastian Arce, 6.Sebastian Mendez, 7.Felipe Seymour, 8.Angel Rojas, 9.Eduardo Vargas, 10.Esteban Paredes, 11.Boris Sa gredo

Substitutes Not Used: 1.Gregory Saavedra (gk), 13.Esteban Saez, 14.Sebastian Diaz, 15.Fabian Torres, 16.Sebastian Barrientos, 17.Lucas Dominguez, 18.Matias Campos,

Yellow Cards: Bruno Romo 60', Sebastian Barrientos 63', Eduardo Vargas 85', Esetban Paredes 89'.

Red Cards: Nil