Young Roos Called Up

Included are Kofi Danning, Sam Gallagher, Rhyan Grant, Ben Kantarovski and Tom Oar who were part of the Qantas Young Socceroos squad that recently participated at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt, whilst Mark Birighitti, Dylan McGowan and James Virgili were named in the Qantas Young Socceroos preliminary squad for tournament but missed out on final selection.

The bulk of the players selected formed the Qantas Next Young Socceroos squad that were runners-up at the recent AFF U19 Youth Championship in Vietnam. Karem Bulut, Chris Bush, Robbie Kolak, Dimitrios Petratos, Nikola Stanojevic and Lawrence Thomas did not make the trip to Ho Chi Minh City but have been selected in the current squad.

Qantas Young Socceroos Head Coach Jan Versleijen knows how challenging the qualification tournament in Bandung, Indonesia from November 7-17 will be, but is confident that the squad of players that he has selected will be able to make it to next year's championships.

"We will have a tough task ahead of us at this tournament in particular against teams such as Japan and Indonesia who are always improving," he said.

"A number of our players were involved at the recent FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt and the experience gained by them will be of great benefit to our campaign in Indonesia.

"We also have a variety of players, over a range of ages, within the group with some already playing in the Hyundai A-League, others in the National Youth League and AIS system, and a couple of players also playing overseas which brings different qualities to the selection.

"With all things considered, I am confident that the players that have been selected will be able to do the job of qualifying for next year's AFC U-19 Championship."

The Young Socceroos will assemble for a short training camp in Sydney on Monday, November 2, and will depart Australia for Indonesia on Wednesday, November 4, to prepare for their opening match of the tournament against Hong Kong on Saturday, November 7.   

The top two teams from the qualifiers will progress to the AFC U-19 Championship 2010 which will be held from 1-16 November. The host nation for the tournament will be determined in November 2009 with the AFC Competitions Committee to choose between bids from China, Thailand and Indonesia. 

Qantas Young Socceroos Squad List

AFC U-19 Championship 2010 Qualifiers

Bandung, Indonesia

7-17 November 2009

AFC U-19 Championship 2010 Qualifiers

Official Match Schedule - Group F

All matches will be played at the Si Jalak Harupat Stadium, Bandung, Indonesia