Subway Young Socceroos Squad for AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers announced

Subway Young Socceroos’ Head Coach, Trevor Morgan has selected a 23-player squad for Australia’s upcoming AFC U20 Asian Cup China PR 2025™ Qualifiers to be held in Abha, Saudi Arabia between 21 – 29 September 2024.

The preliminary stage of the U20 continental tournament – which serves as qualifying for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Chile 2025™ – comprises 45 teams, divided into 10 groups, featuring five of four teams and five of five teams. Qualifying groups will be contested in a centralised league format, with teams seeded into pots based on their final rankings from the tournament’s previous edition.

Having been drawn into Group D, the Subway Young Socceroos will play their fixtures out of Prince Sultan Sports City Stadium against Afghanistan, Macau, Palestine and Saudi Arabia (home).

The Subway Young Socceroos will assemble in Abha from Sunday, 15 September as they look to acclimatise to the mountainous conditions, which are more than 2,200 metres above sea level.

Morgan brings together a squad brimming with young talent from across the Isuzu UTE A-League Men competition, headlined by Miguel Di Pizio (Central Coast Mariners FC) and Thomas Waddingham (Brisbane Roar FC).

Emerging A-League Men players Luka Jovanovic, Panagiotis Kikianis, Fabian Talladira and Johnny Yull have all been selected from Adelaide United FC; while Zach Lisolajski (Perth Glory FC) and Zane Schreiber (Melbourne City FC) have also been named.

While some key European-based players are unavailable, Louis Agosti (AC Perugia Calcio), Liam Bonetig (Celtic FC), Anthony Pavlesic (FC Bayern Munich) and Rhys Youlley (KVC Westerlo) have been made available by their respective clubs, despite these Qualifiers falling outside of a Men’s FIFA International Window.

Subway Young Socceroos’ Head Coach, Trevor Morgan said his squad has been building towards these Qualifiers for some time and are looking forward to the challenge.

“Our planning over the last 12-18 months has been about progressively building depth, experience and belief while refining our style of play ahead of these Qualifiers and ultimately ensuring we’re at the U20 Asian Cup in 2025,” Morgan said.

“The staff see real talent in these players with many progressing into A-League Men squads across the country. It’s an exciting group who thoroughly deserve to be in this position.

“The boys have had some fantastic results against difficult opposition recently and we’ve shown what we’re capable of when we play our football – it’s important we now execute that in a tournament-style setting with plenty at stake.

“We know the conditions and the opposition will be tough, especially with so much to play for and securing a result in this type of situation will not only galvanise us as a group but illustrate the mentality we’ve built throughout this cycle,” Morgan said.

The 10 group Winners and five best second-placed teams will qualify for the 42nd edition of the AFC U20 Asian Cup™ which will be held in China PR from 6 – 23 February 2025.

For a complete list of Qualifying Groups for the AFC U20 Asian Cup China PR 2025™ click here.

MATCH DETAILS:

Afghanistan v Subway Young Socceroos

Monday, 23 September 2024

Prince Sultan Sports City Stadium, Abha

Kick-off: 4.00pm local / 11.00pm AEST

Subway Young Socceroos v Macau

Wednesday, 25 September 2024

Prince Sultan Sports City Stadium, Abha

Kick-off: 4.00pm local / 11.00pm AEST

Palestine v Subway Young Socceroos

Friday, 27 September 2024

Prince Sultan Sports City Stadium, Abha

Kick-off: 4.00pm local / 11.00pm AEST

Subway Young Socceroos v Saudi Arabia

Sunday, 29 September 2024

Prince Sultan Sports City Stadium, Abha

Kick-off: 8.00pm local / 3.00am AEST (Monday, 30 September)

SUBWAY YOUNG SOCCEROOS SQUAD | AFC U20 ASIAN CUP CHINA PR 2025™ QUALIFERS

NAME

POSITION

CLUB

JUNIOR FOOTBALL CLUB

Louis AGOSTI

Midfielder

AC Perugia Calcio

Five Dock FC / Football NSW

Alexander BADOLATO

Midfielder

Western Sydney Wanderers FC

Sylvania Heights FC / Football NSW

Liam BONETIG

Defender

Celtic FC

Shellharbour Junior FC / Football NSW

Jesse CAMERON

Defender

Western Sydney Wanderers FC

Winston Hills FC / Football NSW

Frans DELI

Midfielder

Macarthur Bulls FC

Fairfield Hotspurs FC / Football NSW

Miguel DI PIZIO

Midfielder

Central Coast Mariners FC

AC United FC / Football NSW

Daniel GRASKOSKI

Goalkeeper

Melbourne Victory FC

Northcote City FC / Football VIC

Joshua INSERRA

Defender

Melbourne Victory FC

Fawkner SC / Football VIC

Luka JOVANOVIC

Attacker

Adelaide United FC

Fk Beograd / Football SA

Panagiotis KIKIANIS

Defender

Adelaide United FC

Fullham United FC / Football SA

Zach LISOLAJSKI

Defender

Perth Glory FC

Sydenham Park SC / Football VIC

Jake NAJDOVSKI

Attacker

Western United FC

Spring Hills FC / Football VIC

Anthony PAVLESIC

Goalkeeper

FC Bayern Munich

Sydney United 58 FC / Football NSW

Tiago QUINTAL

Attacker

Sydney FC

Baulkham Hill FC / Football NSW

Oliver RANDAZZO

Midfielder

Macarthur FC

Lilli Pilli FC / Football NSW

Kayne RAZMOVSKI

Midfielder

Melbourne Victory FC

Altona City Soccer Club / Football VIC

Alexander ROBINSON

Goalkeeper

Macarthur Bulls FC

Mt Druitt Town Rangers FC / Football NSW

Zane SCHREIBER

Defender

Melbourne City FC

Bomaderry SC / Football NSW

Arion SULEMANI

Attacker

Melbourne City FC

Dandenong Thunder FC / Football VIC

Fabian TALLADIRA

Defender

Adelaide United FC

Adelaide City FC / Football SA

Thomas WADDINGHAM

Attacker

Brisbane Roar FC

Edge Hill United FC / Football QLD

Rhys YOULLEY

Midfielder

K.V.C. Westerlo

Marconi Stallions / Football NSW

Jonny YULL

Midfielder

Adelaide United FC

West Torrens Birkalla SC / Football SA

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