Young Socceroo squad named for Asian tournament

Young Socceroos head coach Jan Versleijen has named a strong squad for next month’s Asian Football Confederation U-19 Championships in Saudi Arabia.

The championships double as the qualifying tournament for next year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt and the Young Socceroos have reason to be confident.

At the recent ASEAN Football Federation U19 Championships in Thailand they beat the likes of China, Thailand and the Korean Republic.

“Following all our training camps and lead-up matches, I believe we have assembled the strongest possible squad for this important tournament,” Versleijen said today.

“It is important for Australian football that we qualify for the World Cup to improve the development of this group of players.”

His squad includes 17 Hyundai A-League players plus James Brown from the Australian Institute of Sport.

The Young Socceroos are drawn in Group D and will play their opening match against Thailand on November 1, then face Uzbekistan on November 3 before their final group match against Jordan on November 5.

THE SQUAD
Hyundai A-League players: Isaka Cernak (Queensland Roar), Luke De Vere (Queensland Roar), Nathan Elasi (Melbourne Victory), James Holland (Newcastle Jets), Marko Jesic (Newcastle Jets), Matthew Jurman (Sydney FC), Ben Kantarovski (Newcastle Jets), Milos Lujic (Melbourne Victory), Sam Munro (Sydney FC), Tahj Minniecon (Queensland Roar), Daniel Mullen (Adelaide United), Jason Naidovski (Newcastle Jets), Mitchell Nichols (Queensland Roar), Thomas Oar (Queensland Roar), Andrew Redmayne (gk) (Central Coast Mariners), Sebastian Ryall (Melbourne Victory), Nikolas Tsattalios (Sydney FC). James Brown (AIS). Players with overseas-based clubs: Oliver Bozanic (Reading FC, England), Alex Cisak (Leicester City, England), Peter Cvetanovski (Borussia Monchengladbach, Germany), Daniel Ireland (Coventry City, England) and Ryan McGowan (Hearts FC, Scotland).

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