Football Federation Australia has finalised a 20-man A-League All Stars squad to face Italian powerhouse Juventus in a lone exhibition blockbuster at ANZ Stadium next month.
Newcastle goalkeeper Mark Birighitti, Central Coast’s Nick Montgomery, Glory winger Youssouf Hersi and Wellington defender Manny Muscat were added to the final squad set to face off against Juventus on August 10 at ANZ Stadium.
Also on display at Tuesday’s media conference were the squad’s new yellow and blue kits, sporting the unmissable logo of sponsor Telstra across the chest.
FFA boss David Gallop told assembled media on Wednesday that the visiting Italian club had assured the governing body that its top talent and international World Cup stars will travel to Australia to take part in the exhibition match.
“We certainly were careful to make sure that they made that commitment,” Gallop said.
Manchester United made the trip to Sydney last year for a pre-season friendly, showing off the likes of Robin van Persie, Ryan Giggs and Danny Welbeck in a 5-1 win attracting a capacity crowd of 83,000.
“Ticket sales are going reasonably well, obviously a full house is a tall order, but we’ll get close to that,” Gallop said.
A-League All Star Squad:
Alessandro Del Piero (uncontracted), Marcelo Carrusca (Adelaide United), Eugene Galekovic (Adelaide United), Thomas Broich (Brisbane), Matt Smith (Brisbane Roar), Nick Montgomery (Central Coast Mariners), Josh Rose (Central Coast Mariners), Storm Roux (Central Coast Mariners), David Williams (Melbourne City), Besart Berisha (Melbourne Victory), Gui Finkler (Melbourne Victory), Mark Birighitti (Newcastle Jets), Youssouf Hersi (Perth Glory) Ali Abbas (Sydney FC), Bernie Ibini (Sydney FC), Sasa Ognenovski (Sydney FC), Manny Muscat (Wellington Phoenix), Albert Riera (Wellington Phoenix), Tomi Juric (Western Sydney Wanderers), Matthew Spiranovic (Western Sydney Wanderers).
Photo: Matt King/Getty Images
