1997–98 in Australian soccer

Soccer in Australia
Season	1997–98
Men's soccer
NSL Premiership	South Melbourne
NSL Championship	South Melbourne
Women's soccer
Women's NSL	NSW Institute of Sport

The 1996–97 season was the 29th season of national competitive soccer in Australia and 115th overall.

National teams

Men's senior

Results and fixtures

Friendlies

1 October 1997	Tunisia	0–3	Australia	Tunis, Tunisia
		Report	A. Vidmar 1' Viduka 23' Bingley 76'	Stadium: El Menzah Stadium Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Abderrahmane Ben Betka (Algeria)

6 June 1998	Croatia	7–0	Australia	Zagreb, Croatia
	Šuker 14' (pen.), 37', 63' (pen.) Boban 47', 83' Prosinečki 40' Kozniku 72'	Report		Stadium: Stadion Maksimir Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Gerd Grabher (Austria)

1998 FIFA World Cup qualification

Final round

6 July 1997 Second leg	Australia	2–0	New Zealand	Sydney, Australia
20:15 AEST	Zelic 6' Arnold 54'	Report		Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium Attendance: 14,045 Referee: Jamal Al Sharif (Syria)

Intercontinental play-off

22 November 1997 First leg	Iran	1–1	Australia	Tehran, Iran
21:10 IRST	Azizi 39'		Kewell 19'	Stadium: Azadi Stadium Attendance: 128,000 Referee: Pierluigi Pairetto (Italy)

29 November 1997 Second leg	Australia	2–2	Iran	Melbourne, Australia
20:15 AEDT	Kewell 32' A. Vidmar 48'		Bagheri 75' Azizi 79'	Stadium: Melbourne Cricket Ground Attendance: 85,022 Referee: Sándor Puhl (Hungary)

1997 FIFA Confederations Cup

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Brazil	3	2	1	0	6	2	+4	7	Advanced to knockout stage
2	Australia	3	1	1	1	3	2	+1	4	Advanced to knockout stage
3	Mexico	3	1	0	2	8	6	+2	3
4	Saudi Arabia	3	1	0	2	1	8	−7	3

Source: RSSSF

12 December 1997	Mexico	1–3	Australia	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
19:00 AST	Hernández 80' (pen.)	Report	Viduka 45' Aloisi 59' Mori 90'	Stadium: King Fahd II Stadium Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Pirom Un-Prasert (Thailand)

14 December 1997	Australia	0–0	Brazil	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
20:00 AST		Report		Stadium: King Fahd II Stadium Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Lucien Bouchardeau (Niger)

16 December 1997	Saudi Arabia	1–0	Australia	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
17:50 AST	Al-Khilaiwi 40'	Report		Stadium: King Fahd II Stadium Attendance: 55,450 Referee: Javier Castrilli (Argentina)

Knockout stage

19 December 1997 Semi-finals	Uruguay	0–1 (a.e.t.)	Australia	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
19:00 AST		Report	Kewell 92'	Stadium: King Fahd II Stadium Attendance: 22,000 Referee: Nikolai Levnikov (Russia)

21 December 1997 Final	Brazil	6–0	Australia	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
21:00 AST	Ronaldo 15', 27', 59' Romário 38', 53', 75' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: King Fahd II Stadium Attendance: 65,000 Referee: Pirom Un-Prasert (Thailand)

1998 Optus World Series

7 February 1998	Australia	0–1	Chile	Melbourne, Australia
		Report	Acuna 19'	Stadium: Olympic Park Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Gerry Connolly (Australia)

11 February 1998	Australia	1–0	South Korea	Sydney, Australia
	Tapai 39'	Report		Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium Attendance: 9,823 Referee: Brett Hugo (Australia)

15 February 1998	Australia	0–3	Japan	Adelaide, Australia
		Report	Nakata 6' (pen.) Hirano 66', 70'	Stadium: Hindmarsh Stadium Attendance: 9,541 Referee: Mark Shield (Australia)

Women's senior

Results and fixtures

Friendlies

6 August 1997	Australia	1–0	Sweden	Ostend, Belgium
	Murray 59'	Report

10 August 1997	Hungary	0–4	Australia	Csákvár, Hungary
		Report	Duus 10' Moore 31' Black 60', 84'

14 August 1997	Netherlands	1–1	Australia	Grootebroek, Netherlands
	Griffoien 20'	Report	Casagrande 55'	Stadium: Sport Park de Kloet

19 August 1997	Belgium	1–0	Australia	Brussels, Belgium
	Carnol 20'	Report		Stadium: King Baudouin Stadium

23 August 1997	Estonia	1–5	Australia	Tallinn, Estonia
	Morkovkina 2'	Report	Salisbury 20', 63' Revell 31' (pen.) Taylor 61' Murray 83'	Stadium: Haapsalu linnastaadion

26 August 1997	Finland	2–0	Australia	Helsinki, Finland
	Kalmari 69' Uusmalmi 89'	Report

31 August 1997	Norway	7–1	Australia	Oslo, Norway
	Aarones 5' Petterson 9', 34', 45', 81' Haugenes 55', 90'	Report

16 November 1997	Australia	0–3	China	Lismore, Australia
		Report	Qingxia 9' Qingmei 23' Lihong 41'	Stadium: Oakes Oval

19 November 1997	Australia	2–0	New Zealand	Newcastle, Australia
	Revell 13' (pen.) Salisbury 75'	Report		Stadium: Topper Stadium

23 November 1997	Australia	2–1	China	Canberra, Australia
	Cooper 79' Hughes 86'	Report	Lihong 83'	Stadium: Manuka Oval

Men's under-23

Results and fixtures

Friendlies

12 July 1997	Australia	2–0	South Africa	Canberra, Australia
	Emerton 33' Gonzales 57'	Report		Stadium: Bruce Stadium Referee: Ben Williams (Australia)

19 July 1997	Australia	2–3	South Africa	Wollongong, Australia
	Salapasidis 34' Allsopp 72'	Report	Salmon 10' de Weber 22', 53'	Stadium: Brandon Park Attendance: 4,058 Referee: Con Diomis (Australia)

21 March 1998	Australia	2–1	Brazil	Sydney, Australia
	Emerton 7' Curcija 69'	Report	Elberto 31'	Stadium: Parramatta Stadium Referee: Simon Micallef (Australia)

24 March 1998	Australia	3–2	Brazil	Adelaide, Australia
	Zane 42' Curcija 59' Rizzo 81' (pen.)	Report	Antônio 12', 83'	Stadium: Hindmarsh Stadium Attendance: 7,537 Referee: Eugene Brazzale (Australia)

28 March 1998	Australia	2–1	Brazil	Perth, Australia
	Zane 15', 24'	Report	Edu 60'	Stadium: WACA Ground Attendance: 13,357 Referee: Brett Hugo (Australia)

13 June 1998	Australia	1–0	New Zealand	Townsville, Australia
	Susa 3'	Report		Stadium: Dairy Farmers Stadium Referee: Brett Hugo (Australia)

17 June 1998	Australia	2–0	New Zealand	Lismore, Australia
	Curcija 52' Emerton 70'	Report		Stadium: Oakes Oval Attendance: 2,800

20 June 1998	Australia	4–0	New Zealand	Coffs Harbour, Australia
	Emerton 19' Carle 24' Zane 75' Kolpak 80'	Report		Stadium: Coffs Harbour International Stadium Attendance: 4,400

Men's under-20

Results and fixtures

Friendlies

3 June 1998	Chile	2–2	Australia	Santiago, Chile
	20', 54'	Report	Carle 27' Care 42'	Attendance: 4,400

11 June 1998	Uruguay	0–1	Australia	Montevideo, Uruguay
		Report		Stadium: Nacional Universitario Field

14 June 1998	Uruguay	2–1	Australia	Montevideo, Uruguay
	Machado ?' Anchén ?'	Report		Stadium: Estadio Charrúa

Men's under-17

Results and fixtures

Friendlies

3 June 1998	Australia	4–0	Japan	Adelaide, Australia
	Brain 53', 81' DiIorio 84', 90'	Report		Stadium: Hindmarsh Stadium

Domestic soccer

National Soccer League

South Melbourne won the championship in a 2–1 win against Carlton in the Grand Final.^[1]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	South Melbourne (C)	26	13	9	4	56	41	+15	48	Qualification for the Finals series
2	Carlton	26	12	9	5	44	24	+20	45
3	Adelaide City	26	13	4	9	45	30	+15	43
4	Sydney United	26	11	10	5	37	26	+11	43
5	Marconi Fairfield	26	12	7	7	33	25	+8	43
6	Wollongong Wolves	26	13	3	10	51	33	+18	42
7	Melbourne Knights	26	11	6	9	37	35	+2	39
8	Perth Glory	26	10	6	10	35	40	−5	36
9	UTS Olympic	26	10	5	11	37	43	−6	35
10	West Adelaide	26	10	4	12	32	38	−6	34
11	Gippsland Falcons	26	8	7	11	28	36	−8	31
12	Brisbane Strikers	26	6	5	15	23	40	−17	23
13	Newcastle Breakers	26	4	9	13	30	50	−20	21
14	Canberra Cosmos	26	3	8	15	29	56	−27	17

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

Finals series


Elimination Finals					Major/Minor semi-finals					Preliminary Final			Grand Final

													16 May 1998

					2	Carlton	1	0	1				South Melbourne	2

					1	South Melbourne	2	1	3	10 May 1998			Carlton	1

										2	Carlton	1
5	Marconi Fairfield	1	1	2
										5	Marconi Fairfield	0
4	Sydney United	0	0	0
					5	Marconi Fairfield			2

					6	Wollongong Wolves			1
6	Wollongong Wolves	3	2	5

3	Adelaide City	0	2	2

Women's National Soccer League

NSW Institute of Sport won the championship in 3–2 win against SA Sports Institute.^[2]

Pool A
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	SA Sports Institute	9	6	0	3	19	15	+4	18	Qualification to Finals series
2	Victoria ITC	9	3	1	5	14	17	−3	10	Qualification to Finals series
3	Queensland Academy of Sport	9	3	0	6	12	17	−5	9

Source: OzFootball
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Pool B
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	NSW Institute of Sport (C)	9	6	2	1	26	13	+13	20	Qualification to Finals series
2	ACT Academy of Sport	9	4	2	3	13	14	−1	14	Qualification to Finals series
3	Northern NSW ITC	9	2	1	6	11	19	−8	7

Source: OzFootball
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions

References

^ Tuffnell, Dwyght (19 May 1988). "SOUTH MELBOURNE CHAMPIONS". Australian Soccer Weekly. Vol. 19, no. 878. p. 8.
^ Mar, Janene (3 March 1998). "NSW CHAMPIONS OF AUSTRALIA!". Australian & British Soccer Weekly. Vol. 19, no. 867. p. 15.

External links

Football Australia official website

[1] Tuffnell, Dwyght (19 May 1988). "SOUTH MELBOURNE CHAMPIONS". Australian Soccer Weekly. Vol. 19, no. 878. p. 8.

[2] Mar, Janene (3 March 1998). "NSW CHAMPIONS OF AUSTRALIA!". Australian & British Soccer Weekly. Vol. 19, no. 867. p. 15.

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