The Central Coast Mariners foursome of Sam Gallagher, Bernie Ibini-Isei, Trent Sainsbury and Mustafa Amini, along with former Mariner Marc Warren, who is these days plying his trade with Sheffield United in England, have today been named in the Qantas Young Socceroos squad for the upcoming European tour.
The Central Coast Mariners foursome of Sam Gallagher, Bernie Ibini-Isei, Trent Sainsbury and Mustafa Amini, along with former Mariner Marc Warren, who is these days plying his trade with Sheffield United in England, have today been named in the Qantas Young Socceroos squad for the upcoming European tour.
Unfortunately Matt Ryan was unavailable for selection due to an knee sustained during a recent training camp in Canberra.
During the European tour the Qantas Young Socceroos will be based in the Netherlands, play an international friendly match against the German U-19 National team in Kamen-Kaiserau and compete at the Terborg Tournament.
This camp will be the last chance for the players to bid for a place in the final squad that will compete at the FIFA U-20 World Cup which will be held in Colombia from 29 July to 20 August and Qantas Young Socceroos Head Coach Jan Versleijen is keen to use this trip to finalise his plans for the competition.
“For this squad I have invited back a number of overseas based players who trained with us in Duisburg in March to give them another chance to stake a claim for a position in the final squad,” said Versleijen.
“In addition, there are Australian-based players included who have been rewarded for their efforts during the recent three training camps that we have held in the past month.
“A number of overseas-based players, who we are very familiar with, were not considered for selection in the squad for this tour due to a heavy domestic season.
“This tour is important for us as one of our last chances to prepare before we head to Columbia.
“To play a friendly against Germany will be extremely challenging and a good test for the players.
“The Terborg tournament is also important as the teams we will meet reflect the similar styles of the teams that we have drawn in the group phase of the World Cup.
“It is now up to the players selected to prove themselves in a very competitive market for World Cup places,” concluded Versleijen
The Qantas Young Socceroos will depart Australia on 23 May and will play against the German U-19 National team on Friday 27 May in Kamen-Kaiserau before competing in the Terborg Tournament from 3-5 June.
The Terborg Tournament, which is in its 32nd edition, is a Youth team competition that is played with matches in a modified format of 2 x 20 minutes halves.
The youth teams competing this year alongside the Qantas Young Socceroos include Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), FC Twente Enschede (Netherlands), De Graafschap Doetinchem (Netherlands), Boca Juniors (Argentina), Botafogo (Brazil), Cruzeiro (Brazil), Atlas Guadalajara (Mexico) and Unistar Soccer Academy (Ghana ).
