Subway Olyroos’ Head Coach, Tony Vidmar has made three changes to his 26-man squad for the fifth edition of the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) U-23 Championship – Saudi Arabia 2024.
Patrick Yazbek (Viking FK) has been called into the Subway Socceroos’ squad for their upcoming World Cup Qualifiers against Lebanon, while Jacob Farrell (Central Coast Mariners FC) and Ryan Teague (Melbourne Victory FC) have both been ruled out due to injury.
The trio will be replaced by Franco Lino (Viking FK), Paul Okon-Engstler (SL Benifica) and Jordi Valadon (Melbourne Victory FC).
The WAFF U-23 Championship – played out of Al Hofuf, Saudi Arabia from 18 to 26 March – will feature Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Korea Republic, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Championship format sees the eight participating teams broken up into four groups, who will each play three matches throughout the window, with opponents beyond the first match dependent on results.
The Subway Olyroos have been drawn into Group D alongside Iraq and will then face either Egypt or UAE, before the match schedule opens up ahead of their final fixture.
It will be the last opportunity for the Subway Olyroos to assemble prior to Vidmar selecting his 23-man squad for the AFC U-23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024™ in early-April.
The Subway Olyroos are one of 16 teams who have qualified for the AFC U-23 Asian Cup 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 | MATCH SCHEDULE | WAFF U-23 CHAMPIONSHIP
Australia U-23 v Iraq U-23
Thursday, 21 March 2024
Kick-off: 8.00pm AST / 4am AEDT (Friday, 22 March)
Prince Saud Bin Jalawi Stadium, Saudi Arabia
Australia U-23 v TBC
Saturday, 23 March 2024
Kick-off: TBC
Prince Saud Bin Jalawi Stadium, Saudi Arabia
Australia U-23 v TBC
Tuesday, 26 March 2024
Kick-off: TBC
Prince Saud Bin Jalawi Stadium, Saudi Arabia
SUBWAY OLYROOS SQUAD | INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLIES, SAUDI ARABIA | MARCH 18-26
| Name | Position | Club | Junior Football Club |
| Patrick BEACH | Goalkeeper | Melbourne City FC | Glenmore Park FC (Football New South Wales) |
| Hosine BILITY | Defender | CD Mafra | Croydon Kings FC (Football South Australia) |
| Giuseppe BOVALINA | Defender | Adelaide United FC | Croydon Kings FC (Football South Australia) |
| Lachlan BROOK | Forward | Western Sydney Wanderers FC | Gawler Eagles FC (Football South Australia) |
| Cameron COOK | Goalkeeper | Perth Glory FC | Vikings FC (Football Northern Territory) |
| Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS | Defender | Sydney FC | Newmarket SFC (Football Queensland) |
| Louis D'ARRIGO | Midfielder | Lechia Gdansk | West Torrens Birkalla SC (Football South Australia) |
| Jake GIRDWOOD-REICH | Defender | Sydney FC | Sydney Olympic FC (Football New South Wales) |
| Steven HALL | Goalkeeper | Brighton Hove & Albion FC (Youth) | Para Hills Knights SC (Football South Australia) |
| Corey HOLLMAN | Midfielder | Sydney FC | Seaforth FC (Football New South Wales) |
| Jake HOLLMAN | Midfielder | Macarthur FC | Seaforth FC (Football New South Wales) |
| Jacob ITALIANO | Defender | Borussia Monchengladbach II | Inglewood United FC (Football West) |
| Alou KUOL | Forward | Central Coast Mariners FC | Shepparton SC (Football Victoria) |
| Garang KUOL | Forward | FC Volendam | Goulburn Valley Suns FC (Football Victoria) |
| Franco LINO | Defender | Viking FK | Pakenham United FC (Football Victoria) |
| Lucas MAURAGIS | Defender | Newcastle Jets FC | Merimbula Grasshoppers FC (Football New South Wales) |
| Nicolas MILANOVIC | Forward | Western Sydney Wanderers FC | Sydney United 58 FC (Football New South Wales) |
| Mark NATTA | Defender | Newcastle Jets FC | Sutherland Sharks FC (Football New South Wales) |
| Jahce NOVELLO | Forward | Cosenza Calcio | South West Phoenix FC (Football West) |
| Paul OKON- ENGSTLER | Midfielder | SL Benfica | Marconi Stallions FC (Football NSW) |
| Alexandar POPOVIC | Defender | Gwangju FC | Adelaide Comets FC (Football South Australia) |
| Adrian SEGECIC | Forward | FC Dordrecht | Lidcombe Waratah Junior SC (Football New South Wales) |
| Jordi VALADON | Midfielder | Melbourne Victory FC | Glen Eira FC (Football Victoria) |
| Nishan VELUPILLAY | Forward | Melbourne Victory FC | Endeavour United SC (Football Victoria) |
| Thomas WADDINGHAM | Forward | Brisbane Roar FC | Edge Hill United FC (Football Queensland) |
| Rhys YOULLEY | Midfielder | KVC Westerlo | Marconi Stallions FC (Football New South Wales) |