Judgement day looms for Poppa and Socceroos

Last updated : 15 November 2005 By Nik Taylor

Palace defender Tony Popovic faces probably his last chance to qualify for a World Cup when Australia take on Uruguay tomorrow morning.

The 32-year-old defender is expected to be named in Gus Hiddink’s starting line-up for the World Cup qualifying play-off.

Popovic played the full 90 minutes of Saturday’s match between the Aussies and the Uruguayans in Montevideo, a game that saw the Socceroos go down 1-0.

That result means Australia now need to win by two clear goals to book a place in Germany next summer.

The match kicks off at the Telstra Stadium, Sydney, at 8pm local time (9am GMT) tomorrow.