The 2011 Brisbane Roar Silver Boot,

The premier preseason competition for men's football in Brisbane, will once again feature teams from the Brisbane Premier League, Premier Division One, and Gold Coast local competition.

All games are played at Luxury Paints Stadium, 133 Pine Road, Richlands.

The tournament kicks off on Tuesday 18 January, and runs for 4 weeks, culminating in the Grand Final on Sunday 13 February - click on the link below for details of the games:

Admission is $5 Adults, $8 Family, $2 Pensioners & Students over 15, and children under 15 are FREE!

SUNDAY JAN 23 5pm WESTERN SPIRIT v MERRIMAC FC
SUNDAY JAN 30 5pm MERRIMAC FC v QLD LIONS (orange)
SUNDAY FEB 6 7pm MERRIMAC FC v UNIVERSETY OF QLD

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Australia vs Korea Republic

R1 - 15/01/11

AL Gharafa Stadium

Full Time

AUS

1 - 1

KOR

Australia trailed 1-0 at halftime after a lapse in concentration allowed Koo Ja-Cheol to put South Korea ahead in the 24th minute in front of 15,526 fans at Al Gharafa Stadium.

But after Australia had squandered a host of opportunities to equalise, Jedinak levelled in the 62nd minute with a close-range header.

The result put Australia in a strong position to progress to the knockout stages, needing only a draw in their last match against Bahrain to go through, though top spot remains up for grabs.

South Korea, led by their impressive captain and Manchester United star Park Ji-Sung, looked superior at times but the Socceroos had as many, if not more, clear-cut chances on goal.

They could have conceivably gone into halftime ahead with striker Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill squandering a handful of chances.

The first fell to Kewell in just the seventh minute, but he put it over the bar from close range after Brett Emerton's free kick.

Cahill then had what looked a reasonable shout for a penally turned away in the 14th after he was barged over in the box and the game looked fairly even when South Korea struck.

The mobility of Australia's centre backs Lucas Neill and Sasa Ognenovski had been questioned in the build up and the pair should have done better to prevent Ji Dong-Won collecting a long ball from goalkeeper Jung Sungryong inside the box.

The striker then offloaded to Koo, who was allowed an alarming amount of time and space before hammering the ball past Mark Schwarzer for his third goal of the tournament after scoring both in the 2-1 win over Bahrain.

Korea continued to apply the pressure with Ji Dong-Won testing Schwarzer again before Kewell almost equalised when he sent a thunderous free kick just over the bar.

The Galatasaray star wasted another chance shortly after, hitting across the face of goal after some good work from the impressive Brett Holman.

Another chance went begging as Kewell cleverly dummied a Holman pass but Cahill took too long to pull the trigger in the 40th minute.

Osieck, who kept faith in the same starting eleven from the 4-0 win over India, was forced to withdraw Jason Culina due to injury at halftime, with Carl Valeri taking his place.

But it was his other starting central midfielder Jedinak who got the breakthrough.

The Genclerbirligi midfielder, in his 20th appearance from Australia, rose impressively to head the ball home after Neill had floated a ball back across the face of goal from a Wilkshire corner.

Both sides continued to attack and Korea came closest to finding a winner, Ki Sung-Yueng denied in the 87th minute by a fine Schwarzer save.

Australia also lost Wilkshire to injury in the second half, with Jade North coming off the bench late, along with Matt McKay.

Socceroos coach Holger Osieck said it was a quality game and he was happy with the result.

"I think we have seen a very high standard from both teams who have great potential. They displayed it time and again. At times it was end-to-end stuff," said the German.

"My team, I'm very happy with their performance. Our game plan was to close them down in midfield and that was mostly achieved.

"What I found encouraging was we created a lot of chances."

In contrast, his Korean counterpart Cho Kwang-Rae considered it two points lost.

"We could have won the game. If you look at the general performance of our team, then we should have won," he said.

"We controlled the game mostly so in that aspect we have improved a lot. I am pleased about that and if we can continue to develop that part of our game then it will be much better for us as we move forward."

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Caravella Adelaide bound at season's end

GOLD Coast United have confirmed that midfielder Zenon Caravella will be an Adelaide United player from next season after signing a lucrative two-year deal with the South Australian outfit today.

A foundation player with Gold Coast, Caravella said he was sad to be leaving the club but remained committed to the cause in the push towards the finals.

“I want to assure everyone that I will continue to give 100% to Gold Coast United until the end of the season. We're still in a great position and have every reason to push for success this year,” he said.

“I'll be sad to leave and I am grateful to the club for everything they have done for me, but ultimately I have to make decisions that are good for my family.”

Caravella will leave with the club's best wishes with CEO Clive Mensink saying salary cap restrictions made it impossible to match Adelaide's offer.

“We will be sorry to see Zenon leave at the end of the season, but due to the salary cap we could not get close enough to the contract that Adelaide put on the table for him.

“He has been a great servant to Gold Coast United and will continue to be until the end of the season. When he leaves we will wish him all the very best. We fully understand and appreciate that he needs to look after his family and we are proud that our club has provided him with the platform to do just that

Smeltz returns to Gold Coast United

Smeltz returns to Gold Coast United

NEW Zealand international striker Shane Smeltz has returned to Gold Coast United for the remainder of the 2010/11 season after securing a release from his Turkish club, Genclerberligi.

Smeltz, last season's winner of the Hyundai A-League's Golden Boot with 19 goals, will join his teammates at training immediately with a view to being thrust straight into the action when United host North Queensland Fury at Skilled Park this Friday night (7.30pm kick off).

After a frustrating spell on the sidelines in Turkey, Smeltz said he was thrilled to be able to pull on the Gold Coast United shirt once again and couldn't wait to get back to doing what he does best – scoring goals.

“I'm delighted to be back – really happy. I've always loved the Hyundai A-League since it started and obviously I haven't played as much football as I would have liked in the last five or six months, so I'm just really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things,” he said.

“My immediate focus is to try to help out Gold Coast United's situation. I've been following them all season and the team has done well so far but has suffered a bit of a dip recently. Hopefully I can contribute and help everything to start flowing again towards the finals. On a personal level, I just want to get back playing and enjoy myself on the park.”

Smeltz gave a brief insight into his time in Turkey where sweeping changes to key senior staff soon after his arrival changed the landscape for the striker who was a New Zealand hero during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

“It's complicated over there and in the course of my first five or six weeks in Turkey there were a lot of changes at the club,” he said.

“They got a new coach, a new assistant coach and a new general manager who all brought with them their differing opinions. It happens all over the world in football and is nothing new, but the result was that I was sidelined more than I wanted to be.

“I spoke to the club about it and they agreed to release me, so I'm very happy with that outcome and feel relieved that I will playing again soon.

“These things happen in football and you have to go with it. The only thing to do now is to move forward and get on with helping Gold Coast United the best I can.”

United Head Coach Miron Bleiberg said Smeltz's signature could just be the spark his side needs in their quest to secure second place on the ladder with just eight matches remaining before the Finals Series begins.

After a recent dip in form and a lack of goals in their last two outings, Bleiberg believes the return of Smeltz will lift morale among the group as a whole.

“It's great to have Shane back with us and he's come exactly at the right time as our recent results haven't been the best,” Bleiberg said.

“We're obviously very happy to sign a proven goalscorer at this point in the campaign and hopefully he can help us achieve what we want to achieve this season.

“Shane will obviously bring his qualities to the field, but also his return will be a big boost for the whole squad. I'm not expecting miracles from him in his first match as he will be a little bit short of match sharpness, but he is familiar with everyone at the club and it won't take him very long to settle back in.”
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ASIAN CUP
Australia 4 - 0 India

AUSTRALIA coach Holger Osieck praised the efforts of the Socceroos for their 4-0 win over India - but admitted they could have done better in their opening Asian Cup clash.

Two goals from Tim Cahill and one apiece from Harry Kewell and Brett Holman were enough to get the Roos past India.

"In particular, in the first half, we played very well, " he told Fox Sports at full-time. "It was very difficult to start a tournament against an opponent, no matter who it is, is fresh, they are ambitious.

"You have to break them down and that is what happened. We played tactically a very disciplined attacking style of football and we scored three.

"It probably could have been a bit more but I am still pleased with the performance of all. We don't want to ask for too much..."

In the second half, the game descended into a training match run out for the Roos when it lost impetus after the final round of substitutions saw Scott McDonald, Nathan Burns and Matt McKay introduced.

Osieck added: "It is important to start the tournament well and considering the short period of our preparation, it was very important to have a game like that to work on tactical stuff under match conditions.

"From here, we can build for the next games we have to play. I'm going to take the opportunity to take a look at the Korea team. It is definitely going to be a tougher test.

"A victory like today will build up some confidence and give us the right mindset to take to the game and be successful as well."