MELBOURNE Heart have dominated the announcement of the Young Socceroos squad for the AFF Under 19 Youth Championship in Vietnam starting in less than a week's time.
Melbourne Heart are yet to play a competitive fixture in the A-League but have had four youngsters included with Kliment Taseski, Eli Babalj, Kamal Ibrahim and Brendan Hamill all in the 20-man squad.
They join Newcastle's Ben Kantarovski and Adelaide United duo Mathew Leckie and Mark Birighitti as stars of the squad.
Matthew Fletcher of Sunderland in England and Dylan McGowan of Hearts in Scotland will add further experience to the group.
Speaking after four of his players were selected, Heart coach John van 't Schip was pleased with the announcement.
"Developing the next generation of Australian footballers and providing a pathway to the world's top leagues is an important aspect of the Melbourne Heart FC philosophy" he said.
"While the Club is focused on the now, we also must respect that we have a responsibility to look at the future and promote players who will one day be capable of representing the Socceroos".
Taseski, Babalj, Ibrahim and Hamill have all played a part in Melbourne Heart's A-League pre-season campaign which included an impressive outing against English Premier League club Everton.
The tournament will feature four nations (Australia, Vietnam, Korea Republic and Thailand) all playing each other before a final and third place play-off and will run for just under a week.
Thailand are the reigning champions after defeating Australia on penalties in last year's final.
Young Socceroos Squad
- Mark Birighitti (G/K) Adelaide United
- Nikola Stanojevic No current club
- Brendan Hamill Melbourne Heart
- Sam Gallagher Central Coast Mariners
- Kliment Taseski Melbourne Heart
- Ben Kantarovski Newcastle Jets
- Mathew Leckie Adelaide United
- Steven Lustica Gold Coast United
- Eli Babalj Melbourne Heart
- Christopher Bush No current club
- Ben Halloran Gold Coast United
- Dimitrios Petratos Sydney FC
- Mustafa Amini Central Coast Mariners
- Matthew Fletcher Sunderland, UK
- Kamal Ibrahim Melbourne Heart
- Daniel Bowles Brisbane Roar
- Theo Markelis No current club
- Matthew Acton (G/K) Brisbane Roar
- Dylan McGowan Hearts FC, Scotland
- Ryan Edwards AIS
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