Football Federation Australia chairman Frank Lowy officially opened the 2006/07 Hyundai A-League season on Monday confident of great success after the amazing performance of the Socceroos at the World Cup.

Together with FFA chief executive John O'Neill and the captains and coaches of all eight teams, Lowy opened Hyundai A-League Version 2.

With interest in football at fever pitch after the Socceroos exceeded all expectations in Germany, together with a new, professional and exciting national league, Lowy had no doubt the upcoming season would be even better than the first.

"We knew we had to qualify for the World Cup to generate the good will and momentum that would flow from being part of the world's biggest sporting event," Lowy said.

"It was always going to be enormous, if we could only get there."

"We knew that if we were going to succeed in taking new football into Australia's sporting mainstream, we needed to have a strong, credible, viable national competition."

O'Neill was also excited ahead of the new season and believes things will only continue to get better for football in Australia.

"The foundations set are so world class, it would be very hard to mess it up," he said. "One thing we won't do is not take this opportunity to achieve bigger and better things.

"The A-League is incredibly important to us in continuing to build that mainstream space we are now in."

O'Neill labelled the Hyundai A-League the 'shopfront' of Australian football and stressed its importance in the game as a whole in this country.

He said that participation numbers have never been a problem for football in Australia, but there had been a certain entertainment factor missing from the sport that has now been resolved.

"The Socceroos have provided that entertainment in spades, and now the shopfront of football, the A-League is open for business."

The season kicks off this weekend with Melbourne Victory hosting Pre-Season Cup winners Adelaide on Friday, while Queensland Roar and Perth Glory are set to clash on Saturday night.

The opening round will wrap up on Sunday when the New Zealand Knights host the Newcastle Jets, and the Central Coast mariners head to Sydney for a grand final re-match.

(sportal)