Okon Selects Very Young Roos

The FFA chose to select a youth side for the competition being held in Pekanbaru, Sumatra, between July 5 and 15 as preparation for November's U19 AFC Chamionship in UAE which doubles as a qualifier for the U20 World Cup in 2013.

The squad includes 17 A-League players with two from the State League (NSW & SA), one from the Australian Institute of Sport, one un-contracted player and two overseas based players in Giancarlo Gallifuoco (Tottenham Hotspur) and Aaron Lennox (Queen’s Park Rangers).

Terry Antonis and Jake Barker-Daish were both members of the Qantas Young Socceroos squad that went to last year’s U20 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 2011 U17 World Cup in Mexico.

The tournament has been delayed from itds original start date of June 23 which has caused headaches for Okon over 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 10 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 Young Socceroos will meet in Sydney on Sunday before leaving for Indonesia on Monday to face the host nation on July 5, Macau on July 7, Singapore July 10, Timor Leste July 12 and Japan on July 15.

The top two teams from Group E and the best third placed team of all groups will then progress to the AFC U22 Championship which will be played in January 2014.