Glory trio Adam Bugarija, Zach Lisolajski and Jaylan Pearman have been named in the 23-man squad which will represent Australia at next month’s AFC U20 Asian Cup China 2025.
Trevor Morgan’s squad will assemble in Tokyo, Japan for a pre-camp from Monday 3 February to commence their preparations for the tournament, prior to relocating to Shenzhen, China ahead of their opening fixture against Kyrgyz Republic.
The young Aussies been drawn in Group A where they will face Kyrgyz Republic (12 February), Qatar (15 February) and hosts China PR (18 February).
The 42nd edition of the AFC U20 Asian Cup will see sixteen of the Confederation’s best U20 teams divided into four groups to contest a one-round league format, with the top two finishers in each group qualifying for the Knockout Stages.
The tournament – which serves as qualifying for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Chile 2025 – will see the top four teams advance to the U-20 showpiece FIFA event.
Head Coach Morgan is confident that his charges will give a good account of themselves in the competition.
“We sat down at the beginning of this cycle and set out a comprehensive program to build experience through matches, with a clear focus on developing a technically and tactically adept team that is ready to perform in this World Cup qualifying tournament,” he said.
“Our staff have had the opportunity to work with a large number of players through this program of activity and we’ve brought together what we feel is a talented squad who we have strong belief in, both individually and collectively.
“The bulk of this squad have accumulated significant experience across these camps and the familiarity and cohesiveness that comes with time spent together will be important for us throughout our campaign.
“As a group, we naturally have strong ambitions and goals, however our sole focus is on the football that is immediately in front of us, but we know what we can achieve when we play to our potential.
“I’m looking forward to arriving in camp and getting started on what will be an exciting campaign for the players and staff.”
Bugarija, Lisolajski and Pearman have all featured regularly in Glory’s A-League squad this season.
Defender Lisolajski has made 11 appearances, Bugarija 9 and Pearman four.
They have been joined in the Young Socceroos squad by former Glory forward Daniel Bennie who is now playing in the English Championship with Queens Park Rangers.
You can catch all the Young Socceroos matches at the AFC U20 Asian Cup China 2025 live and exclusive on 10 Play.
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