Young Socceroos coach Jan Versleijen has called on players from as far afield as Portugal and Scotland in selecting his squad for next month’s qualifiers for the Asian Football Confederation Under-19 Championship.

Versleijen has named a 23-man squad, which will attempt to win a place in next year’s Asian tournament in Bandung, Indonesia, from November 7-17.

It includes Jason Davidson, who plays for Pacos de Ferreira in Portugal, and Dylan McGowan from Scottish club Hearts.

Also included are Sydney FC trio Kofi Danning, Sam Gallagher and Rhyan Grant, Newcastle’s Ben Kantarovski and Brisbane’s Tom Oar, who were part of the Young Socceroos squad that recently participated at the FIFA under-20 World Cup in Egypt.

The bulk of the players come from the Next Young Socceroos squad that were runners-up at the recent ASEAN Football Federation under-19 youth championship in Vietnam.

Versleijen knows how challenging the qualification tournament will be, but is confident the Young Socceroos will make it to championship.

“We will have a tough task ahead of us at this tournament, in particular against teams such as Japan and Indonesia who are always improving,” he said in a statement.

“A number of our players were involved at the recent FIFA under-20 World Cup in Egypt and the experience gained by them will be of great benefit to our campaign in Indonesia.

“We also have a variety of players, over a range of ages, within the group with some already playing in the A-League, others in the National Youth League and AIS system, and a couple of players also playing overseas which brings different qualities to the selection.

“With all things considered, I am confident that the players that have been selected will be able to do the job of qualifying.”

The Young Socceroos will assemble for a short training camp in Sydney next Monday and will depart for Indonesia on November 4 to prepare for their opening match of the tournament against Hong Kong on November 7.

The top two teams from the qualifiers will progress to the AFC Under-19 Championship in November 2010, to be held in China, Thailand or Indonesia.

Young Socceroos squad: Eli Babalj (AIS), Mark Birighitti (Adelaide United), Daniel Bowles (Brisbane Roar Youth), Karem Bulut (Sydney FC Youth), Chris Bush (AIS), Kofi Danning (Sydney FC), Jason Davidson (Pacos de Ferreira, Portugal), Petar Franjic (Melbourne Victory Youth), Sam Gallagher (Sydney FC), Rhyan Grant (Sydney FC), Benjamin Kantarovski (Newcastle Jets), Robbie Kolak (Newcastle Jets Youth), Matthew Leckie (Adelaide United), Jared Lum (AIS), Steven Lustica (Gold Coast United), Dylan McGowan (Hearts FC, Scotland), Thomas Oar (Brisbane Roar), Dimitrios Petratos (Sydney FC Youth), Trent Sainsbury (AIS), Nikola Stanojevic (AIS), Kliment Taseski (Melbourne Victory Youth), Lawrence Thomas (AIS), James Virgili (Newcastle Jets Youth)

© AAP 2012

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