A FULL-strength Socceroos side featuring World Cup heroes Lucas Neill, Tim Cahill and Mark Bresciano seems certain to play at Suncorp Stadium in June.
Neither Football Federation Australia nor the State Government would confirm it yesterday, but Australia's path to the 2010 World Cup will feature a qualifier against Iraq in Brisbane.
June 2, a Monday night, is the Asian Football Confederation's nominated date for the match.
However, FFA corporate affairs chief Bonita Mersiades said June 1 or June 4 were preferred dates and negotiations were under way to play the match on either the Sunday or the Wednesday.
Mersiades said talks were progressing well between the FFA and the State Government, with an official announcement that Suncorp Stadium will host the match expected by the end of the month.
The clash against Iraq is one of four qualifiers the Socceroos will play in June.
With the games falling in the off-season of almost every European league, there should not be a problem with selection of the likes of West Ham captain Neill, Everton midfielder Cahill, Palermo attacking weapon Bresciano and Middlesbrough goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.
Queensland Roar skipper Craig Moore won't be available for selection, having announced his international retirement following Australia's 3-0 World Cup qualifying win over Qatar in Melbourne last Wednesday night.
Hopes of seeing Neill, Cahill and Schwarzer playing for their clubs in Australia as part of the English Premier League's move to play a full round of matches overseas have been quashed by the FFA, which had to approve the proposal.
FFA chairman Frank Lowy said the A-League would remain the governing body's priority.
"We said when this issue first arose last week that FFA's overwhelming priority is to promote the A-League and to continue to invest in, and grow, the game in Australia," Lowy said.
"That remains our view. The bottom line is FFA rejects the notion of another country playing a round of their domestic competition in Australia and intruding on the development of the A-League and the game in Australia."
FFA chief executive Ben Buckley did not rule out the possibility of A-League teams playing club sides from around the globe in exhibition matches.
"However, our overriding objective is to build equity in the A-League and everything we do is assessed against that objective," Buckley said.
