Young defender Reece Caira has been selected for the Qantas Young Socceroos tour of Europe for next week.
Young defender Reece Caira has been selected for the Qantas Young Socceroos tour of Europe for next week.
Qantas Young Socceroos Head Coach Paul Okon has selected a 26-player squad for a European training camp from 19-31 May which will include international friendly matches against the Netherlands U-21 Men-s Team (Friday 24 May) and the German U-21 Men-s National Team (Friday 31 May).
The Qantas Young Socceroos squad includes seven (7) players from overseas clubs with the remaining 19 drawn from Hyundai A-League clubs.
Okon will be using this European training camp as his final look at the players before naming his squad for the upcoming FIFA U-20 World Cup Turkey 2013 (21 June – 12 July 2013).
“Our recent training camps in Australia have been extremely beneficial for our preparations, especially the last two weeks when we have been able to train with the older national team players,” Okon said.
“The experience of working with the older players has given us a good indication of where we are at and what we need to do to perform at a high level.
“I am really pleased with the progress that we have made and the high standards we have now set.
“For this European tour we have merged the overseas and domestic players together and we will be looking to improve even more.
“We have two tough matches against quality opposition who are both preparing for the UEFA U-21 Championships which begin next month in Israel so we know we are in for a good challenge will need to be focused to play them at their level.
“From these matches we will get a good indication on what is required to be competitive at the FIFAU-20 World Cup.
“This will be the last chance for the players to stake their claim for a position in the final squad which we will announce in early June.”
Qantas Young Socceroos Squad – European Tour – 19 to 31 May 2013 Mustafa Amini (Borussia Dortmund, Germany), Nicholas Ansell (Melbourne Victory), Terry Antonis (Sydney FC), Anthony Bouzanis (gk) (Sydney FC), Joshua Brillante (Newcastle Jets), Reece Caira (Western Sydney Wanderers), Connor Chapman (Newcastle Jets), Travis Cooper (VVV Venlo, Netherlands), Daniel De Silva (Perth Glory), James Donachie (Brisbane Roar), Jack Duncan (gk) (Perth Glory), Ryan Edwards (Reading FC, England), Scott Galloway (Melbourne Victory), Ben Garuccio (Melbourne Heart), Jason Geria (Melbourne Victory), Curtis Good (Newcastle United, England),Hagi Gligor (Sydney FC), Andrew Hoole (Newcastle Jets), Jackson Irvine (Celtic FC, Scotland), Paul Izzo (gk) (Adelaide United), Jamie Maclaren (Blackburn Rovers, England), Connor Pain (Melbourne Victory), Adam Taggart (Newcastle Jets), David Vrankovic (Melbourne Heart), Jeremy Walker (Melbourne Heart), Ryan Williams (Fulham FC, England)
Match Details Netherlands U-20 Men-s Team v Qantas Young Socceroos Friday 24 May 2013 Univé Stadium, Emmen, Netherlands Kick-Off 6:30pm (2:00am AEST)
Germany U-20 Men-s Team v Qantas Young Socceroos Friday 31 May 2013 Venue TBA Kick-Off 10:00am (6:00pm AEST)
