Western Sydney Wanderers defender Jonathan Aspropotamitis may have missed out on the chance to play against touring EPL giant Arsenal last weekend but it was all in a good cause. The 21-year-old is on international duty representing his country at U-23 level in Myanmar this week, where Australia is attempting to qualify for the 2018 AFC U-23 championship to be held in China.
Aspropotamitis made the final cut when Olyroos coach Josep Gombau selected his final 23-man squad after a week-long pre-tournament camp in Sydney last week which involved practice matches against Sydney FC and the defender’s A-League club Western Sydney Wanderers.
Nineteen of the 23-man squad play with A-League clubs – with Western Sydney Wanderers and Adelaide United being the most represented with four players each. They’re followed by Newcastle Jets and Melbourne City with three each.
Australia is in one of 10 qualifying groups each with four teams. In the qualifying tournament in Myanmar which began on Wednesday, Australia is scheduled to play three matches against Brunei, Singapore and host nation Myanmar. The round robin tournament will determine which country qualifies for the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship in China.
Australia needs to either win the group, or finish as one of the best five second-placed teams of the ten qualifying groups to qualify.