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The Qantas Futsalroos had a 6-0 victory over Chinese Taipei overnight at the Nimibutr Stadium in Bangkok to secure a spot in the quarter finals of the Asian Football Confederation Futsal Championship.

Australia will complete their group fixtures tonight against number 2 ranked Asian side Japan and meet either Thailand or Kyrgyzstan in the quarter finals on Thursday.

A semi final berth at the Asian Championship will see Australia qualify for the 2008 FIFA Futsal World Cup to be held in Brazil later this year.

Adelaide United are one game away from being the first Australian team to qualify for the Knock-Out phase of the AFC Champions League following their 1-0 victory over Pohang Steelers.

United are currently at the top of Group E on 13 points with Changchun Yatai (China) closely behind on 11 points whilst the other teams in the group, the Pohang Steelers (Korea Republic) and Binh Duong (Vietnam) have 4 and 0 points respectively.

A win or draw against Changchun Yatai will be enough for United to progress through to the quarter-final stage of Asia's premier club football competition.

Only the winner of each of the seven groups will progress to the Quarter-Final stage along with the current champions, Urawa Red Diamonds from Japan.

AFC Champions League 2008 – Remaining Group E Fixtures
CHANGCHUN YATAI (CHINA PR) v ADELAIDE UNITED (AUSTRALIA)
Changchun City Stadium, Changchun, China
Wednesday 21 May 2008
Kick-Off 15:30 (17:30 AEST, 17:00 ACST)
NAM DINH FC (VIETNAM) v KASHIMA ANTLERS FC (JAPAN)
MY Dinh Stadium
Wednesday 21 May 2008
Kick-Off 17:00 (19:00 AEST)

Football Federation Australia will be reaching as many fans as possible with the release of its 2008 Pre-Season Cup draw.

Bunbury (WA), Caloundra (QLD), Cessnock (NSW), Mandurah (WA) and Mt Gambier (SA) and will all host matches for the first time, while Launceston (TAS), Campbelltown (NSW), Port Macquarie (NSW) and Wollongong (NSW) will again welcome Hyundai A-League clubs for the annual Pre-Season Cup.

The 2008 Pre-Season Cup comprises two groups of four teams (Group A: Adelaide United, Melbourne Victory, Perth Glory, Newcastle Jets; Group B: Sydney FC, Queensland Roar, Wellington Phoenix, Central Coast Mariners) with each team to play the other teams in their group once.

The top teams from each group after the three rounds will play-off for in the final on Wednesday 6 August with the winner presented the 2008 Pre-Season Cup.

The Hyundai A-League 2008-09 Season will commence on Friday 15 August 2008

Qantas Under 23s coach Graham Arnold believes that similarities between last night's draw for the 2008 Beijing Olympics Football tournament and the 2004 version will work to his side's advantage.

Just like in 2004, Australia drew Argentina, Serbia and an African nation (Ivory Coast in 2008 compared with Tunisia in 2004) and Arnold is hopeful of emulating the performance of four years ago when the team made it out of the group stage.

"Last time we had a similar group and we did very well to make the quarter finals," said Arnold who was an Assistant Coach in Athens in 2004.

"We know we can get through this group, we have history and also we have had such a tough schedule just to make it this far which will hold us in good stead."

"Playing in Asia has taught us a lot about the conditions we will face in China and that could give us an advantage also."

Arnold said he expects the team to play at least 12-13 games between now and the opening match.

"We have a tournament in Malaysia coming up and also it's been a bonus to have so many of the players involved with the Qantas Socceroos," added Arnold.

"The preparations will be better than I had hoped for and we will go there to be successful."

Australia's opponents have been impressive in their qualifiers with defending champions Argentina who qualified after finishing runners-up to Brazil in the 2007 South American Youth Championships, Serbia who made the final of the 2007 UEFA European under 21 Championships and Ivory Coast who topped their final qualifying group in Africa with a comprehensive five wins from six matches.

Australia is yet to win a medal at the Olympic Games having had their best finish of fourth in Barcelona in 1992.

AUSTRALIA'S DRAW FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT

Australia v. Serbia
7 August 2008
Shanghai

Australia v. Argentina
10 August 2008
Shanghai

Australia v. Ivory Coast
13 August 2008
Tianjin

Qantas Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek has once again kept his options open while naming his squad for the vital 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier to be played against China in Kunming on 26 March.

A squad of 21 players was announced today but Verbeek has indicated that not all of those players were guaranteed to be called up and some others may also be added.

"We have placed a large group of players on notice that they could be called up for the match," said Verbeek.

"Some of those players may not end up being included in the final squad and also players from the team that play against Singapore could also be added."

"With the short time difference between playing for the clubs in Europe and the match we need to have options open for us if players become unavailable due to injury."

Earlier this week the squad to play Singapore at their National Stadium four days before the qualifier against China was selected and featured all Hyundai A-League players. An impressive performance in that match could see those players added to squad to travel to Kunming.

Australia got off to a great start to their 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign with a 3-0 home win against Qatar last month but Verbeek knows this will be a tougher challenge.

"China will be desperate to win because they had a draw in their first match."

"It is vital to win your matches at home and China know this which is why they have been preparing themselves in Kunming since 1 March."

The squad will be finalised following Australia's international match against Singapore at their National Stadium on Saturday 22 March.

Provisional Qantas Socceroos Squad

Michael Beauchamp (Nuremburg, Germany), Mark Bresciano (Palermo, Italy), Jacob Burns (Unirea Valahorum, Romania), Tim Cahill (Everton, England), Nick Carle (Bristol City, England), David Carney (Sheffield United, England), Jason Culina (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Brett Emerton (Blackburn, England), Adam Federici (Reading, England), Vincenzo Grella (Torino, Italy), Brett Holman (NEC Nijmegen, Netherlands), Josh Kennedy (Karlsruhe, Germany), Harry Kewell (Liverpool, England), Patrick Kisnorbo (Leicester City, England), Scott McDonald (Celtic, Scotland), Lucas Neill (West Ham, England), Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough, England), Mile Sterjovski (Derby County, England), James Troisi (Newcastle, England), Carl Valeri (Grosseto, Italy), Luke Wilkshire (Twente, Netherlands)