Youlley and Olyroos teammates focussed on doing Australia proud
Preparations continue in Doha at the Subway Olyroos camp as the squad are now fully focussed on their AFC U-23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024™ opening match against Jordan on Monday, April 15.
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- READ MORE: How To Watch Australia at the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024™
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The tournament is the pinnacle of U23 football in Asia and this year will act as the qualifiers for the Paris 2024 Olympics football event.
Lots at stake, for sure. But for 19-year-old Rhys Youlley, he isn’t feeling the pressure.
Speaking from the camp in Doha, Youlley said he is enjoying the camp environment, and all is good.
“It's been good, the boys are good, and most of the boys are from the last camp, so I’m doing all good here, and training has been good,” he said.
“I only came in for the last camp and the boys treated me like I've been there for 12 months with them so it's a great group of boys.”
Youlley transferred to KVC Westerlo in September 2023 and has since helped the U21 side at the club to the top of the Belgian Reserve Pro League.
In recent fixtures he has three goals in three games, and he is hoping that club form translates to his Olyroos appearances.
“The plan is just to perform as high a level as I can, just to help the team in any way I can,” he said.
One of those recent goals for Westerlo was a screamer of a free kick from long range, something he has been working on further in this camp.
“In the past couple of days, after training, I’ve been hitting a few with (Callum) Talbot, but we'll see what happens, hopefully I can get one or two in this tournament.”
The Olyroos squad has more depth in the midfield for this tournament, which is something that head coach Tony Vidmar discussed at the squad announcement.
Youlley thinks the competition for places is a healthy thing and will push everyone to be at their best.
“I think competition will be a good driving point for everyone in the team, no one can ever slack off,” he said.
“Everyone is really pushing, and it honestly makes everyone else better, because if you're not pushing then the form can start to drop in the team and we really want to go as far as we can in this competition.”
In those midfield positions, the Olyroos have ample creative talent and use this to play expansive football.
“The squad's amazing, I think everyone can do each role to their best ability and we have a really good team going into this tournament,” Youlley added.
The team have clear intentions to win the tournament, qualify for the Oympics and do Australia proud.
And Youlley described donning the green and gold as something that fills him with pride.
“Whenever I play for Australia, I just feel so proud to put on the jersey. It's a footballers’ way of giving back to their country,” he said.
"There's no better feeling than playing for your country."
AFC U-23 ASIAN CUP QATAR 2024™ FINALS – GROUP A
Australia v Jordan
Monday, 15 April 2024
Kick-off: 4pm (local) / 11pm AEST
Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha
Indonesia v Australia
Thursday, 18 April 2024
Kick-off: 4pm (local) / 11pm AEST
Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha
Qatar v Australia
Sunday, 21 April 2024
Kick-off: 6:30pm (local) / 1:30am AEST (Monday, 22 April)
Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha
All matches Live on Paramount+