Subway Olyroos’ Head Coach, Tony Vidmar has named an extended 24-man squad for a series of upcoming friendlies during the November FIFA Men’s International Window, to be held in Saudi Arabia.
The Subway Olyroos will face Saudi Arabia and Qatar, as their preparation for the AFC U23 Asian Cup™ Qatar 2024 begin to intensify.
The fixtures – scheduled for Friday, 17 November (Qatar) and Tuesday, 21 November (Saudi Arabia) – will be played at Prince Saud Bin Jalawi Stadium, providing Vidmar’s squad with the invaluable opportunity to spend time together as a group while facing quality opposition.
Subway Olyroos’ Head Coach, Tony Vidmar said this is the beginning of an important period within the U-23 program.
“There’s been some really positive results in recent camps at the Maurice Rovello Tournament and in securing qualification for the U-23 Asian Cup,” Vidmar said.
“Those are important for the confidence and belief within this group, as we build towards a phase of competition that is significant within our program.
“We’ve spoken about what success at an Asian Cup and in turn, Olympic qualification looks like for the players individually and as a collective – there's real excitement as 2024 approaches.”
Vidmar added that these upcoming friendlies offered a variety of benefits to his wider squad.
“We’ve secured games against teams who will provide a different challenge to those we’ve recently faced, in very similar conditions to what we’ll see in Doha next year – in terms of acclimatising the squad it ticks several boxes,” Vidmar said.
“There are four available matches to prepare ahead of our first Asian Cup group game, so every part of our preparation needs to be geared towards that, ensuring we can be at our best and effectively execute our plans on the pitch.”
Vidmar’s squad features several returning faces from the team that successfully secured AFC U-23 Asian Cup™ Qatar 2024 qualification, including Calem Nieuwenhof (Heart of Midlothian FC), Nectarios Triantis (Sunderland AFC) and Patrick Yazbek (Viking FK).
While a contingent of Isuzu UTE A-League talent in Callum Talbot (Melbourne City FC), Lachlan Brook (Western Sydney Wanderers FC), Noah Botic (Western United FC) and Ryan Teague (Melbourne Victory FC) will also make the trip to Saudi Arabia.
Adrian Segecic (FC Dordrecht) has been named following strong performances in the Eerste Divisie, while Marco Tilio (Celtic FC) also returns to the Subway Olyroos following recovery from injury.
Patrick Beach (Melbourne City FC) and Jack Warshawsky (Central Coast Mariners FC) have also been included as train on selections, with one player to be included in the official 23-man squad prior to official matches commencing – with all players remaining with the squad throughout the window.
With a clear focus on preparation for the AFC U23 Asian Cup™ Qatar 2024, Vidmar said this camp and his selections would help build necessary depth across the squad.
“We’ve got some fantastic young players coming through, playing for clubs in Australia and across Europe,” Vidmar said.
“It's important for us to ensure we have a squad that is familiar with our environment, as they may be called upon throughout our Asian Cup campaign or beyond – be it due to injuries or player availability. Having a wider group of players all on the same page is an important element to any success we collectively strive for.”
The Subway Olyroos are one of 16 teams who have qualified for the AFC U23 Asian CupTM Qatar 2024, should they finish in the top three they will automatically qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics as the AFC representatives, while the fourth-best team will play an AFC-CAF play-off match for the final qualification spot.
SUBWAY OLYROOS SQUAD | INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLIES, SAUDI ARABIA | 13 NOV – 21 NOV
NAME | POSITION | CLUB | JUNIOR FOOTBALL CLUB |
| Raphael BORGES RODRIGUES | FW | Macarthur FC | Western Strikers SC (Football South Australia) |
| Noah BOTIC | FW | Western United FC | Hurstville ZFC (Football New South Wales) |
| Lachlan BROOK | FW | Western Sydney Wanderers FC | Gawler Eagles FC (Football South Australia) |
| Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS | DF | Sydney FC | Newmarket SFC (Football Queensland) |
| Louis D'ARRIGO | MF | Lechia Gdansk (Poland) | West Torrens Birkalla SC (Football South Australia) |
| Jacob FARRELL | DF | Central Coast Mariners FC | Wyoming FC (Football New South Wales) |
| Steven HALL (Gk) | GK | Adelaide United FC | Para Hills Knights SC (Football South Australia) |
| Jake HOLLMAN | MF | Macarthur FC | Seaforth FC (Football New South Wales) |
| Jacob ITALIANO | DF | Borussia Monchengladbach II (Germany) | Inglewood United FC (Football West) |
| Lucas MAURAGIS | DF | Newcastle Jets FC | Merimbula Grasshoppers FC (Football New South Wales) |
| Calem NIEUWENHOF | MF | Heart of Midlothian FC (Scotland) | Curl Curl FC (Football New South Wales) |
| Adam PAVLESIC (Gk) | GK | Sydney FC | Sydney United 58 FC (Football NSW) |
| Alexandar POPOVIC | DF | Adelaide United FC | Adelaide Comets FC (Football South Australia) |
| Adrian SEGECIC | MF | FC Dordrecht (Netherlands) | Lidcombe Waratah Junior SC (Football NSW) |
| Callum TALBOT | DF | Melbourne City FC | Gymea United FC (Football New South Wales) |
| Ryan TEAGUE | MF | Melbourne Victory | Maroubra United FC (Football New South Wales) |
| Marco TILIO | MF | Celtic FC (Scotland) | APIA Leichhardt FC & Sydney Olympic FC (Football NSW) |
| Mohamed TOURE | FW | Paris FC (France) | Croydon Kings FC (Football South Australia) |
| Kai TREWIN | DF | Brisbane Roar FC | Gungahlin United FC (Capital Football) |
| Nectarios TRIANTIS | DF | Sunderland AFC (England) | Canterbury Junior FC (Football New South Wales) |
| Nishan VELUPILLAY | FW | Melbourne Victory FC | Endeavour United SC (Football Victoria) |
| Patrick YAZBEK | MF | Viking FK (Norway) | Austral Soccer Club (Football New South Wales) |
TRAIN ON PLAYERS | |||
| Patrick BEACH (Gk) | GK | Melbourne City FC | Glenmore Park FC (Football NSW) |
| Jack WARSHAWSKY (Gk) | GK | Central Coast Mariners FC | Buderim Wanderers FC (Football Queensland) |
SUBWAY OLYROOS SQUAD | MATCH SCHEDULE
Australia U23 v Qatar U23
Friday, 17 November 2023
Kick-off: TBC
Prince Saud Bin Jalawi Stadium, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia U23 v Australia U23
Tuesday, 21 November 2023
Kick-off: TBC
Prince Saud Bin Jalawi Stadium, Saudi Arabia