Wales to host Socceroos friendly

Australia will travel to Wales in August for their first European friendly since a shock 2-1 win in Germany.

Holger Osieck’s squad had their next match date confirmed by the Football Association of Wales (FAW) on Tuesday, with the fixture to be played at the Cardiff City Stadium on Wednesday, August 10.

Welsh manager Gary Speed was excited about the prospect of facing the Socceroos, who he said were a better class of opposition to what Wales normally face in friendlies.

“Australia are a different level,” Speed said. “They beat Germany in their last game so that just shows you what a good team they are.”

“If we are to improve and develop we want to play against strong nations, as we want to get to a place where we are competing when the next qualifiers come around.”

“There are a lot of European and British-based players (in the Socceroos team). So it should spark a bit of interest in Wales and the Australian community in Britain.”

The two nations have never played each other before, with the match against the 114th-ranked Wales set to give Osieck an opportunity to play several of his European-based Socceroos.

A 0-0 draw against Serbia and a 3-1 win over New Zealand in a pair of friendlies in June saw Osieck’s impressive record with the Socceroos continue, with the German manager having only lost three of 15 matches in charge.

But Australia will not have it easy against Wales, who could potentially field a side including Tottenham winger Gareth Bale, Manchester City striker Craig Bellamy and Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey.

The match against the Socceroos will come less than a month before Wales’ vital Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro, with Speed likely to send out his best available side at the Cardiff City Stadium in preparation for the match.

The newly built stadium houses just under 27,000 fans and is likely to be close to a sell-out for the visit of the Socceroos.