Socceroos Back on Free-To-Air Television
For anyone interested in watching or betting on Socceroos matches, the good news is that all the remaining qualifier matches will now be screened on free-to-air television. A few days ago, both Fox Sports and Nine Network announced that all of the remaining FIFA World Cup qualifier matches will be aired directly to the Australian public. The decision to do so has been met with great enthusiasm, as the Socceroos have already kicked off their road-to-Russia campaign with some outstanding wins.
The live free-to-air matches will provide both punters and soccer fans with critical insight on how the team will perform in the 2018 World Cup should they qualify. It also means that the whole country can get behind the team. Should Ange Postecoglou’s men come out tops, this will be the fourth consecutive FIFA World Cup for Australia. Meanwhile on Friday, the Socceroos faced off against Saudi Arabia drawing 2-2 in their first non-winning match of this qualification round.
Australia Draw 2-2 with Saudi Arabia
With the match held in Jeddah, the stifling conditions may have contributed to Australia’s failure to produce a winning performance. Early on in the match, it was the Saudi’s that struck first. Struggling to adapt to the conditions, the Australians were put on the back foot as Taisir al-Jassim found just the right amount of space in the box to take the score to 1-0. Just before half-time, the Socceroos were able to equalise with beauty of a corner from Aaron Mooy, nodded home by Trent Sainsbury.
In the second half, Australia went ahead for the first time in the 71’st minute. Robbie Kruse blazed down the right-hand-side of the pitch, crossing to Tomi Juric to slot another one in the posts taking the score to 2-1. The team’s euphoria was short lived as Nassir al-Shamrani slotted home an equaliser just a few minutes later. In the final minutes of the game, Matthew Spiranovic missed the perfect opportunity to put the Aussies ahead after a fumble from the keeper.
Despite not winning the match, the Socceroos are still firmly in the running for 2018. Their next match takes place on Tuesday when the face-off against the tenacious Japanese who beat Iraq 2-1 to place third in group B.
The remaining Socceroo matches include:
- Australia v Japan (11 October, 2016)
- Thailand v Australia (15 November, 2016)
- Iraq v Australia (23 March, 2017)
- URE v Australia (28 March, 2017)
- Australia v Saudi Arabia (8 June, 2017)
- Japan v Australia (31 August, 2017)
- Thailand v Australia (5 September, 2017)
This means there are still plenty of betting opportunities for punters, and that fans can enjoy several action packed matches along the way.