Fresh faces for Young Roos squad

Okon has selected 16 Australian-based and 4 players from overseas-based clubs.

Anthony Bouzanis and Hagi Gligor were also members of the Young Socceroos Squad that recently competed at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey.

Okon is looking forward to the start of the new FIFA U-20 World Cup qualification campaign.

“This is the first stage of a new campaign with a new playing group,” said Okon

“We had originally planned to have a training camp prior to the tournament to have a look at a larger group of overseas based players to possibly have included in this squad, but due to a number injuries he have had to postpone that camp until later in the year.

“This (COTIF) Tournament is a very good one with four tough matches which include Spain and Mexico.

“This will be our first opportunity to develop our playing style and test ourselves against quality opposition.”

This is the 30th edition of the COTIF Tournament and will involve ten U19 Men’s National teams from Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Spain.

All matches will be played at the Estadio Municipal Els Arcs De L'Alcúdia.

This will be the first competitive outing for this group of players who are looking to eventually qualify for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup which will be held in New Zealand. The first stage of this qualification process is the AFC U-19 Championship qualifiers which will be held in Hong Kong from 3 to 11 October 2013.

Young Socceroos Squad List – COTIF Tournament, L'Alcúdia, Spain – 12-21 August 2013