Tickets to the Socceroos crunch World Cup qualifier against Honduras are selling for a bargain – with some seats for the must-win game going for just $10.
The match at ANZ Stadium in Sydney on Wednesday is a sudden-death playoff between the two sides for the right to play in next year’s tournament in Russia.
Category C restricted view tickets to the game are being sold for just $10 for four-to-16-year-olds, while adults can score a seat in the same areas for $25.
Tickets to the Socceroos crunch World Cup qualifier against Honduras are selling for a bargain – with some seats for the must-win game going for just $10.
The match at ANZ Stadium in Sydney is a sudden-death playoff between the two sides for the right to play in next year’s tournament in Russia
The stadium has been the scene for two previous Socceroos’ World Cup qualifying successes
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Football Federation Australia and ANZ Stadium for comment on the prices, which are cheaper than the lowest prices charged for the Bledisloe Cup rugby union game between the Wallabies and All Blacks played at the same stadium in August.
Tickets for the same section were selling for between $46 and $59 for the rugby match.
The stadium has been the scene for two previous Socceroos’ World Cup qualifying successes.
In 2005, John Aloisi nailed a penalty to send the team to their first World Cup in 32 years, while in 2013 Josh Kennedy’s late header against Iraq confirmed their place in the 2014 tournament.
Australia has adopted an all-out attacking style under coach Ange Postecoglu, who is confident of success in the qualifier.
‘This has been the longest World Cup campaign taken by any nation both in the amount of games and in kilometres travelled,’ he said.
In 2005, John Aloisi nailed a penalty to send the team to their first World Cup in 32 years
‘You don’t want all that to mean nothing.’
Honduras has accused the Socceroos of using drones to spy on their football preparations ahead of Wednesday night’s do-or-die World Cup playoff clash.
The Honduran football federation’s official Twitter account posted footage showing an apparent drone circling Sydney’s ANZ Stadium from above on Monday as their team trained inside.
‘Australia spy on the official training of the Honduras team from a drone; this caused discontent amongst the team and its representatives,’ the tweet said in Spanish.
Football Federation Australia denied the allegations, saying: ‘We weren’t involved’.
Clutching at straws? Honduras has accused the Socceroos of using a drone (left) to spy on their football team during their first training session at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium
The Hondurans arrived via commercial flights on Monday morning and were quick to start their first training session ahead of Wednesday night’s do-or-die World Cup playoff clash
Honduras boss Jorge Luis Pinto was also involved in a row with the media at the start of the session on Monday when he tried to close training before the 15 minutes of open access allowed under FIFA rules.
‘They should show us some respect, we respected them in Honduras so they should show us respect here,’ he shouted in Spanish at photographers and cameramen.
Pinto also suggested on his arrival in Sydney that someone in the Honduran media had leaked tactical details to Australia, broadcaster Televicentro reported.
‘If someone in the sports press … betrayed and passed information to Australia … let me tell you, it sells the homeland and (is a) mercenary,’ one Honduran journalist tweeted.
‘Jorge Luis Pinto said in Sydney that apparently someone from the country passed information to Australia on which they had worked,’ he added.
According to Honduran newspaper La Prensa, Honduras team management sent up drones of their own in 2016 to ensure no unauthorised parties were monitoring their training sessions.
To heat things up even more, Honduras boss Jorge Luis Pinto reportedly suggested that someone in the Honduran media had leaked tactical details to Australia
Pinto was also involved in a row with the media at the start of the session on Monday when he tried to close training before the 15 minutes of open access allowed under FIFA rules
The Hondurans arrived via commercial flights on Monday morning, more than 18 hours after the Socceroos’ specially-equipped charter flight touched down following a hasty post-match departure from San Pedro Sula.
Coach Pinto made up for the long flight with two training sessions on Monday.
The team had a stretch and walk in a park close to their team hotel before a formal session on ANZ Stadium on Monday evening.
It will be the only time Honduras will set foot on the ground before the match but there was a relaxed mood among the players of ‘Los Catrachos’, who joked and trained without shinpads.
Coach Jorge Luis Pinto told Honduran media he felt the side’s underdog status could be an advantage.
‘If we had the pressure in San Pedro, they have it here … which is very convenient for us,’ he said.
Honduras will go in as underdogs when they take on Australia’s Socceroos on Wednesday
Pinto told Honduran media he felt the side’s underdog status could be an advantage