Sydney FC pair Terry Antonis and Daniel Petkovski have been named in the Qantas Young Socceroos squad for the AFC U-22 Championship Qualifiers which will be played in Pekanbaru, Sumatra, Indonesia from 5 to 15 July 2012.
Sydney FC pair Terry Antonis and Daniel Petkovski have been named in the Qantas Young Socceroos squad for the AFC U-22 Championship Qualifiers which will be played in Pekanbaru, Sumatra, Indonesia from 5 to 15 July 2012.
The 23-man squad selected by Head Coach Paul Okon includes 17 players from Hyundai A-League clubs.
Antonis and Jake Barker-Daish were both members of the Qantas Young Socceroos squad that went to last year-s FIFA U-20 World Cup, whilst Corey Brown, Connor Chapman, Mitch Cooper, Jesse Makarounas, Yianni Perkatis, Anthony Proia and Riley Woodcock were part of the Qantas Joeys that made the Round of 16 at the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico.
Although the upcoming tournament is for U-22 players, Football Federation Australia took the decision to field the Qantas Young Socceroos (U-20 players) in the competition as part of their preparations for the AFC U-19 Championship which will be held in the United Arab Emirates in November, which will also serve as the qualifiers for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup which will be held in Turkey next June/July.
The delay of the start of tournament from the originally scheduled date of 23 June has presented a number of headaches for Okon, in particular to the availability of overseas based players, but he is optimistic about his team-s chances.
“Our recent training camp in Brisbane was very positive and gave us a good indication on the level of the players,” said Okon.
“We were planning on having more overseas-based players in the squad, but with the tournament start postponed by two weeks most of the players that we were considering already had to return to their respective clubs to commence pre-season training.
“This tournament will be a tough challenge for the boys with five matches to be played in ten days.
“Fitness will be a key factor in dealing with the frequency of matches and the hot and humid conditions we will encounter in Indonesia.
“We will also be playing against players who are possibly two years older than most of our players so the experience and benefits that we will gain from this tournament will be doubled,” concluded Okon.
The Qantas Young Socceroos will assemble in Sydney on Sunday 1 July before departing for Indonesia on Monday 2 July.
The Qantas Young Socceroos will play five matches in ten days against fellow Group E nations Indonesia (5 July), Macau (7 July), Singapore (10 July), Timor Leste (12 July) and Japan (15 July).
The squad is: Terry ANTONIS (Sydney FC), Jake BARKER-DAISH (Adelaide United), Josh BRILLANTE (Newcastle Jets), Corey BROWN (Brisbane Roar), Reece CAIRA (Uncontracted), Connor CHAPMAN (Newcastle Jets), Mitch COOPER (Newcastle Jets), James DONACHIE (Brisbane Roar), Jack DUNCAN (gk) (Newcastle Jets), Giancarlo GALLIFUOCO (Tottenham Hotspur), Ben GARUCCIO (AIS), Nicholas FITZGERALD (Brisbane Roar), Jason GERIA (Brisbane Roar), Curtis GOOD (Melbourne Heart), Aaron LENNOX (gk) (Queen-s Park Rangers), Jesse MAKAROUNAS (Perth Glory), Nick MUNRO (gk) (Croydon Kings), Brandon O-NEILL (Perth Glory), Yianni PERKATIS (Blacktown City) , Daniel PETKOVSKI (Sydney FC), Anthony PROIA (Brisbane Roar), Adam TAGGART (Newcastle Jets), Riley WOODCOCK (Perth Glory).
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