CSA confirms Australia friendly at Craven Cottage By Steven Sandor Posted on September 19, 2013 Comments Off on CSA confirms Australia friendly at Craven Cottage 0 652 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Holger Osieck The match has been on FIFA’s international calendar since the Labour Day weekend (CLICK HERE), but the Canadian Soccer Association confirmed Wednesday that the men’s national team will head to London, England to face Australia. There is a slight change. The game will take place Oct. 15 at Fulham’s Craven Cottage, not Oct. 16 as it appeared on the FIFA calendar. Canadian national-team coach Benito Floro will convene a camp that begins Oct. 11 in London. The most interesting subplot of a Canada-Australia match is the presence of Holger Osieck in the Aussies’ coaching box. Osieck led Canada to one of its most prestigious soccer titles, the capture of the Gold Cup trophy in 2000. Now, the German is running the Australian team, though he is under extreme media pressure at the moment. There have been calls for his head in the wake of a 6-0 loss to Brazil. And even though the Socceroos have qualified for the 2014 World Cup, there is a feeling that just getting to the group stage isn’t good enough for the Aussies. Before Australia faces Canada, it will have a camp in France, which includes a friendly against Les Bleus. “The opportunity came up to play Canada on the second FIFA match date in October after we play France on the Friday evening in Paris,” Osieck was quoted on the Football Australia site. “For us it is important to play as many international matches as possible in the lead-up to the World Cup.”
