Perth Glory youngsters Jesse Makarounas and Adam Taggart have both been selected in a squad of 23 players for their upcoming 2012 AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers which will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 31 October – 8 November 2011.
Perth Glory youngsters Jesse Makarounas and Adam Taggart have both been selected in a squad of 23 players for their upcoming 2012 AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers which will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 31 October – 8 November 2011.
Nineteen (19) members of the Qantas Young Socceroos squad have been drawn from the ranks of the Hyundai A-League clubs and National Youth League teams with Reece Caira (Aston Villa, England), Ryan Edwards (Reading FC, England), Tom King (Liverpool FC, England) and Jamie Maclaren (Blackburn Rovers, England) the four overseas based players.
Included in the squad are Terry Antonis and Jake Barker-Daish who were part of the Qantas Young Socceroos squad that recently competed at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia and Makarounas, Nick Ansell, Corey Brown, Connor Chapman, Paul Izzo, Tom King and Anthony Proia who were all members of the Qantas Joeys squad that made the Round of 16 at the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico.
The next three weeks is part of a hectic schedule for Taggart who is currently in a 2-day camp in Sydney under the eye of Qantas Socceroos Head Coach Holger Osieck.
“It-s a great chance to train with the best young players in the country,” Taggart said.
Qantas Young Socceroos Head Coach Jan Versleijen is excited about starting a new qualification campaign after a very busy tournament schedule this year.
“It-s always good to start working with a new generation of players.
“One of the big positives is that we have a number of players within our squad who already have valuable tournament experience after they competed at World Cups this year.
“Part of our development philosophy is to expose these young players to as much international competitive football as possible. The more exposure they have the better they develop.
“Obviously our goal for this tournament is to perform well and qualify for next year-s championship which will be the all important qualifier for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup,” concluded Versleijen.
The Qantas Young Socceroos have been drawn in Group G of the upcoming 2012 AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers along with China P.R., Indonesia, Singapore and Macau. The top two teams from this group will then progress to the 2012 AFC U-19 Championship will be held from 2-17 November with the host nation to be determined on 21 November 2011. Placing at the 2012 AFC U-19 Championship will determine who will qualify for the 2013 FIFA U-20 FIFA World Cup which will be held in Turkey.
The Qantas Young Socceroos will assemble for a short training camp in Canberra on Wednesday 26 October and will depart Australia for Malaysia on Saturday 29 October to prepare for their opening match of the tournament against Singapore on 2 November, followed by Macau on 4 November, Indonesia on 6 November and finally China PR on 8 November.
