That would be the reason why - always pitted at opposite ends of the draw due to us being #1 and #2 seeds respectively.

Ahh yeah makes sense I guess.

Might have to revive my 'Is SK our new rival?' thread. :D

Please do - I may have missed that thread haha

With Olympic qualifiers starting soon - March I believe - what do we think is our strongest line-up atm?

With 1997 being the cut-off and assuming Arnie uses the same formation as the Socceroos, maybe this?

Delianov
Atkinson - Deng - (?) - Gersbach
O’Neill - Pasquali
McGree
Genreu - Folami - Theoharous

Unfortunately Arzani will still be injured for these :(

The talent pool appears a bit thin for that age group

Yep - especially at GK and CB.

Even if he was fit I doubt he would of been released anyway 

Hope, Blackwood, De silva, Baccus, McGlip, Piscopo, etc all still eligable as they are 97 or 98. 

Forgot to mention champness, probably the Pick of the bunch in terms of attacking players

Wenzel-halls another interesting one 

Only a couple of these players playing regularly for a club. Not good

Timotheou, Kotoumbis, Rowles are cb options.
Ouzonidis and mourdoukoutas also but much younger.

Does anyone know what happened to the FFA NTC Challenge in Canberra? Havent found any information for this years event, i assume its been shafted by the FFA like the COE?

According to the Instagrams of a few players, the Olyroos are currently in camp at the AIS in Canberra.

Pearce Waring has even flown over from Japan for it.

I really wish FFA would release squad info for things like this. They did for the Socceroos training camp in September.

Does anyone know why they use the Canberra AIS instead of Valentine Sports Park in Sydney ? 

Why engage with fans? That's not important.

The u15 (next batch of Joeys) and the u18 (next batch of young socceroos) will play in our favorite AFF Cup next year.

Always fun playing against the likes of Vietnam, Thailand etc.

Sensible idea.  Doesn't cheapen the shirt and doesn't throw away money on 3rd grade pretenders to a cap,

I'd prefer u20s but since the Clubs see these things as unimportant and a hindrance to player progression, picking u18s gives these youngsters an exposure to higher standards of football that they will never get sitting on pine.

In reality, the u18 team is the next batch of young Socceroos that are upcoming for the afc u19 championship in 2020.

Same for the u15 team which will form the nucleus of the joeys u16 team competiting in the AFC u16 2020 edition.

With Folami out for the season, joining Arzani and Buhagiar prevented from playing in the upcoming Olyroos Olympic qualifiers in May, what does our best front 4 look like?

Maybe:

CAM: Genreu
RW: Wales
ST: Iredale
LW: Theoharous

Not looking too strong...

The qualifiers are a little earlier, in March actually: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_AFC_U-23_Championship_qualification

Has Theoharous been playing at Gladbach? If Italiano starts playing consistently at Glory, the youngin might find himself with that spot. Is Champness eligible?

Iredale had surgery for a fractured foot in mid-December, hopefully he'll be back into it by March.

He was just starting to get games again in December but they're on break until mid-February now.

Oh wow Pala you’re right, thanks for that - March is very soon!!

With Folami out I can only think of Pierce Waring as an option at number 9, unless Popovic gets some games for his 2nd div Austrian side.

Domestically, the options are Blackwood and D'Agostino. Need to see them do more.

We're fine for wingers with Theoharous, Wales, Najjarine, Piscopo, even Gersbach, and well served at 10 with McGree, Pasquali, DDS, and more.

Yep Blackwood would surely be first choice #9 now.

I’d imagine Genreu would be first choice #10 considering Arnie has recently called him up to Socceroos squads so many times.

Hopefully we can find someone better at football than Blackwood.

Of course, should have had Genreu in my post, suffice it to say that we have options there.

This is great news for Joeys and there overall prep for the u17 world cup later this year.

Hopefully there will be some streams for this.

Joeys set for Turkey tournament after recieving UEFA invite.


Australia’s preparations for the 2019 FIFA U17 World Cup in Peru have received a significant boost, with confirmation that a Joeys selection will travel to Antalya, Turkey next month to participate in a preparatory tournament to be hosted by UEFA.

The Joeys qualified for the 2019 FIFA U17 World Cup after making the semi-finals of the 2018 AFC U16 Championship held in Malaysia last September, and one of the first components of the squad’s preparations for Peru will be fixtures against Turkey, Tanzania, and Guinea in Antalya between March 4 and 8.

Australia is the only nation outside of UEFA and CAF to receive an invitation to the preparatory tournament. The tournament will also feature teams from Morocco, Cameroon, Uganda, Montenegro, Senegal, Angola, Nigeria, and Belarus.

FFA Chief Executive Officer, Mr David Gallop AM, said securing Australia’s participation in the tournament was the culmination of extensive discussions with UEFA.

“Our International Relations team has been working to establish strong relationships with confederations and associations around the world. These relationships in turn enable us to further our strategic objectives. In this case, it’s about building up the competitive opportunities for our youth national teams, so this is a major boost for our preparations for this year’s FIFA Under 17 World Cup,” Gallop said.

“We thank UEFA for the opportunity. Playing international matches against players from Turkey, Tanzania and Guinea is unique for Australian footballers of any age or gender and will provide a brilliant chance for our boys to benchmark themselves against players of similar ages from different confederations.”

Australia U17 National Team Coach, Trevor Morgan, who is currently in Europe scouting potential Joeys players, said he will use this opportunity to provide some new players with international experience.

“We are consistently monitoring our identified elite young players both in Australia and overseas, however we are also eager to unearth new talent for Australia’s national teams,” Morgan said.

“For the upcoming preparatory tournament in Turkey I will be selecting a squad primarily comprised of players that didn’t attend last year’s AFC U16 Championship in Malaysia, however this doesn’t mean that the players that performed well in Malaysia won’t be given further opportunities to impress and stake their claim for Peru.

“We are continually building connections with coaches and technical directors in Australia and abroad, and I’d like to thank all the people that have put forward potential players for the Joeys system,” he said.

UEFA’s Head of National Associations International Relations, Eva Pasquier, said: “This initiative is part of the UEFA ASSIST programme, which aims to share knowledge, best practices and offer assistance to UEFA’s sister confederations and their member associations.”

“In this context, the tournament in Antalya will provide opportunities for talented young players to gain experience playing in a competitive environment, while also learning about different cultures which will broaden their footballing education both on and off the pitch.”

Peru (Host Nation), Australia, Japan, Korea Republic, Tajikistan, New Zealand and Solomon Islands have already qualified for the 2019 FIFA U17 World Cup, with additional entrants from CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, and UEFA to be determined over the coming months.

The 2019 FIFA U17 World Cup will be held between October 5 and 27, and FFA is currently exploring opportunities for the Joeys to participate in additional international tournaments on the path to Peru.

https://www.socceroos.com.au/news/joeys-set-turkey-tournament-after-receiving-uefa-invite