Vidmar's New Stars For Iraq Clash

Zac Anderson (Gold Coast United), Nick Fitzgerald (Brisbane Roar), Craig Goodwin (Melbourne Heart), Chris Harold (Gold Coast United), James Jeggo (Melbourne Victory), Mitchell Mallia (Sydney FC), Jacob Pepper (Newcastle Jets), Josh Risdon (Perth Glory), Tom Rogic (Central Coast Mariners) and Lawrence Thomas (Melbourne Victory) have all received their first call-up.

But Gold Coast United star youngster Ben Halloran has missed out again, with an injury cloud currently hanging over him, as had injured team-mate James Brown.

Although unable to qualify for the 2012 London Olympic Games, Vidmar is confident that his team can go out of the competition on a positive note.

“It is obvious that mathematically we can’t qualify for the Olympic Games, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is an international match that we want to win," he said.

“We have also selected the current group of players with the upcoming inaugural AFC U22 Asian Championship in mind to give them some valuable competitive international match experience.

“Although we will only have a limited preparation, I am sure that the boys will be looking to finish the campaign with a positive result.”

Both the Qantas Australian U23s and Iraq are out of contention to qualify for the 2012 London Olympic Games, but in the other group match Uzbekistan will need to defeat the UAE in Tashkent to guarantee direct passage to the Olympics.

Olyroos squad: