Central Coast Mariners defender Sam Gallagher has been drafted in to Aurelio Vidmar’s Qantas Australian U23s squad for this Sunday’s crucial London 2012 qualifier against Uzbekistan at Parramatta Stadium.
Central Coast Mariners defender Sam Gallagher has been drafted in to Aurelio Vidmar’s Qantas Australian U23s squad for this Sunday’s crucial London 2012 qualifier against Uzbekistan at Parramatta Stadium.
Vidmar has reconsidered his selection of Curtis Good for his squad following the suspension of fellow defender Aziz Behich who picked up his second yellow card of the AFC Asian Qualifiers for the 2012 London Games against Iraq in Doha on Tuesday night.
Whilst he called up Melbourne Heart defender Good shortly after the match against Iraq, Vidmar has now elected to bring in the more experienced Central Coast Mariners defender Sam Gallagher instead.
Gallagher’s selection is another milestone in his burgeoning career. Having represented the Qantas Young Socceroos at the past two FIFA U20 World Cup’s, Gallagher takes the next step in his national teams career by joining the camp.
A left-side specialist, Gallagher has put in a string of impressive performances for the yellow and navy’s National Youth League team over recent weeks.
In the other AFC Asian Qualifying group B match played on Wednesday night, the UAE and Uzbekistan played out a scoreless draw match of the AFC Asian Qualifiers for the 2012 London Games.
The Qantas Australian U23s arrived back in Sydney last night and will now prepare for their all important match against Uzbekistan at Parramatta Stadium on Sunday evening.
The teams in each group of the third round of qualifying play in a home-and-away format from 21 September 2011, to 14 March 14, 2012, with the winner of each group directly qualifying for the London 2012 Olympic Games Football competition.
The three second-placed teams from the third round will clash in a playoff at a centralised venue from March 25 to 29, 2012, and the winners of this group will meet the representatives of CAF (Africa) for a berth in the 2012 London Olympic Games.
The AFC Asian Qualifiers for the 2012 London Games match between the Qantas Australian Under 23s and Uzbekistan will be broadcast live and exclusive on Fox Sports.
