Qantas Australian Under 23s head coach Aurelio Vidmar has selected an 18-player squad for the upcoming AFC Asian Qualifiers for the 2012 London Olympic Games – Third Round match against Iraq, which will be played at Central Coast Stadium, Gosford on Wednesday 14 March.
Qantas Australian Under 23s head coach Aurelio Vidmar has selected an 18-player squad for the upcoming AFC Asian Qualifiers for the 2012 London Olympic Games - Third Round match against Iraq, which will be played at Central Coast Stadium, Gosford on Wednesday 14 March 2012 (Kick-off 7:30pm AEDT).
Zac Anderson (Gold Coast United), Nick Fitzgerald (Brisbane Roar), Craig Goodwin (Melbourne Heart), Chris Harold (Gold Coast United), James Jeggo (Melbourne Victory), Mitchell Mallia (Sydney FC), Jacob Pepper (Newcastle Jets), Josh Risdon (Perth Glory), Tom Rogic (Central Coast Mariners) and Lawrence Thomas (Melbourne Victory) have all received their first call-up to the Qantas Australian U23s for the current campaign.
Although unable to qualify for the 2012 London Olympic Games, Vidmar is confident that his team can go out of the competition on a positive note.
“It is obvious that mathematically we can-t qualify for the Olympic Games, but that doesn-t change the fact that this is an international match that we want to win.
“We have also selected the current group of players with the upcoming inaugural AFC U22 Asian Championship in mind to give them some valuable competitive international match experience.
“Although we will only have a limited preparation, I am sure that the boys will be looking to finish the campaign with a positive result,” concluded Vidmar.
Both the Qantas Australian U23s and Iraq are out of contention to qualify for the 2012 London Olympic Games, but in the other group match Uzbekistan will need to defeat the UAE in Tashkent to guarantee direct passage to the Olympics.
Qantas Australian U-23s Squad List AFC Asian Qualifiers for the 2012 London Games - Round 3 V Iraq - March 2012
Zac ANDERSON Gold Coast United Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk) Adelaide United Kofi DANNING Brisbane Roar Nicholas FITZGERALD Brisbane Roar Sam GALLAGHER Central Coast Mariners Craig GOODWIN Melbourne Heart Rhyan GRANT Sydney FC Brendan HAMILL Melbourne Heart Chris HAROLD Gold Coast United Bernie IBINI Central Coast Mariners James JEGGO Melbourne Victory Ben KANTAROVSKI Newcastle Jets Mitchell MALLIA Sydney FC Jacob PEPPER Newcastle Jets Dimitrios PETRATOS Sydney FC Joshua RISDON Perth Glory Tom ROGIC Central Coast Mariners Lawrence THOMAS (gk) Melbourne Victory as at Wednesday 7 March 2012
AFC Asian Qualifiers for the 2012 London Games - Third Round Qantas Australian U23s v Iraq Central Coast Stadium, Gosford Wednesday, 14 March 2012 Kick-off: 7:30pm Gates Open 6.30pm
Ticket Prices General Public Adult $20.00 Concession/Child $10.00 Family $40.00
Football Family and registered players database pre-purchase price Adult $10.00 Concession/Child $5.00 Family $20.00
On Sale Dates 9am Friday 3 February, 2012
Head to www.footballaustralia.com.au/tickets for details.