Post by Macmoish on Aug 16, 2011 7:07:15 GMT
Versleijen names Young Socceroos squad
theworldgame.sbs.com.au/australia/news/1068844/Versleijen-names-Young-Socceroos-squad
Australia Under-20 coach Jan Versleijen has named his 18-player squad for the SBS Cup, which will be played in Shizuoka, Japan later this week (18-21 August).
The squad includes 17 Australian-based players and one overseas-based player, Aaron Lennox.
Gold Coast United midfielder Jade Barker-Daish was a member of the recent Young Socceroos squad that competed at the FIFA U-20 World Cup earlier this month and Connor Chapman, Yianni Perkatis, Corey Brown, Anthony Proia, Jesse Makarounos and Luke Remington were members of the Australia U-17 squad that played at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico.
This will be the first outing for this group of players as the squad attempts to qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup, to be held in Turkey in 2013.
Versleijen says playing matches against quality opposition is an extremely important part of that process.
“This is the start of our new campaign and our first official time together for the next group of Young Socceroos,” Versleijen said.
“We are missing a number of players for a variety of reasons, for example resting Mustafa Amini and Terry Antonis after the World Cup, but unfortunately many others are injured at this time.
“The positive that we can take out of this is that we will get to have a look at a few new players that may not normally be selected at this time as well as some of the players that went to the Under 17 World Cup in Mexico.
“With our AFC U-19 Championship qualifiers scheduled for later this year, this tournament is a good place to start our preparations,” Versleijen said.
The Young Socceroos will face Shizuoka on Thursday, followed by Japan and Mexico.
The AFC U-19 Championship qualifiers will be held from 31 October to 8 November at a venue yet to be announced.
The Young Socceroos have been drawn in Group G of the competition along with China, Indonesia, Singapore and Macau.
Young Socceroos squad: Jake BARKER-DAISH, (Gold Coast United), Kwabena BOAHENE (Australian Institute of Sport), Joshua BRILLANTE (Gold Coast United), Corey BROWN (Brisbane Roar), Connor CHAPMAN (Australian Institute of Sport), Joshua Da SILVA (Sutherland Sharks), Jason GERIA (Brisbane Roar), Andrew HOOLE (Broadmeadow Magic), Aaron LENNOX (gk) (Queens Park Rangers), Jesse MAKAROUNAS (Perth Glory), Nicholas MUNRO (gk) (Adelaide Galaxy), Luke O'DEA (Melbourne Victory), Yianni PERKATIS (Australian Institute of Sport), Aaron PETERSON (Sydney United), Anthony PROIA (Australian Institute of Sport), Alistair QUINN (Brisbane Roar), Luke REMINGTON (Newcastle United), Elliott RONTO (Gold Coast United).
theworldgame.sbs.com.au/australia/news/1068844/Versleijen-names-Young-Socceroos-squad
