The Galaxy Are Going Back Down Under

Last month we announced that the club was heading back to New Zealand for a friendly in Auckland on December 6. We can now tell you that the club will be in Australia a few days later to take on the Queensland Roar of the A-League. That game will be played on Thursday, December 11 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

Here is the text from today's official press release, but first, a quick video to get you ready for the game.



CARSON, Calif. (Wednesday, October 15, 2008) – For the second straight year, the LA Galaxy will play a team from the Hyundai A-League in an international friendly in Australia. On Thursday, December 11, the Galaxy will take on the Queensland Roar at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia. The match is part of the Galaxy’s two match Oceania tour, which will also feature a game against an Oceania All Stars Invitational Team in Auckland, New Zealand on Saturday, December 6.

In 2007, the Galaxy played the A-League’s Sydney FC and the Wellington Phoenix during a two match tour of the region; losing 5-3 to Sydney FC in front of more than 80,000 at Telstra Stadium in Sydney and defeating the Phoenix 4-1 in front of one of the biggest crowd ever to see a soccer game in New Zealand a few days later.

“With the overwhelming response from fans in Australia last year, we are very excited to be returning there for a match in Brisbane against the Queensland Roar,” said Galaxy Assistant General Manager Tom Payne. “We are looking forward to another successful postseason friendly against a quality A-League side that will expose more people to our club and our league.

“On behalf of the Galaxy, I would like to thank the Bligh Government, Sport Minister Judy Spence, John O’Sullivan and Ben Buckley with the FFA, the Queensland Roar and our partners with AEG/Ogden and Suncorp Stadium for all of their efforts in making this game possible,” added Payne.

The Roar are currently fifth in the eight-team A-League standings with nine points through the first third of the 2008/09 season completed. Queensland currently has a record of 2-2-3 heading into a meeting with Adelaide this week and is just one point out of the final postseason spot with 14 games left in the season.

Former Scotland international Charlie Miller leads the team in scoring with five goals in just seven games during his debut season with the club while the club’s all-time leading scorer, Brazilian forward Reinaldo also poses a threat up front for the Roar.

With those two handling much of the scoring load for Queensland, former English Premier League stalwarts and Australian internationals Craig Moore and Danny Tiatto are left to lead the Roar defense.

Moore rose to fame in Scotland with Rangers, spending most of the first 12 years of his professional career with the club, eventually becoming the club’s captain while leading them to seven Scottish Premier League titles. He would go on to spend time in England, with Crystal Palace and Newcastle United, and Germany, with Borussia Mönchengladbach, before signing with the Roar prior to the start of the 2007/08 season. A veteran of the Australian National Team, Moore has 40 caps for the Socceroos and played for his country at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, scoring in the 2-2 draw with Croatia.

Joining Moore for the last two years has been Danny Tiatto, a fellow Socceroo who collected 25 caps for his National Team during a 10-year international career. The 35-year old defender rose to prominence with Manchester City, where he spent five seasons before playing four more years at fellow English club Leicester City. He appeared in more than 200 games during his nine-year career in England, before signing with the Roar prior to the start of the 2007/08 campaign, helping lead Queensland to the A-League Finals series for the first time in the club’s four-year history.