Melbourne based footballers Con Christodoulou and Christian Tsangas are both in the US, playing with the Australia Paralympic soccer team in an international tournament. Pararoos Head Coach Kai Lammert named both Christodoulou and Tsangas in a 14-player squad for the 2018 Tri-Nations International Challenge Matches which is taking place in San Diego, USA from 18-21 July 2018. The Tri-Nations International Challenge brings together the Pararoos with 4th ranked USA and 10th ranked Canada in a round robin competition.
“This tournament will give us vital matches and important exposure to international football for our new players,”coach Lammert said, prior to the team’s departure.
“We had to make some changes due to classification changes earlier in the year so we will see a mixture of young new faces and experienced campaigners in the squad.”
Defender Con Christodoulou is one of the new young faces in the squad and the tournament will give him his first cap as a senior Pararoo, whilst keeper Tsangas already had two caps to his name prior to the tournament.
“I will definitely be nervous as there will be pressure on me since I am a first time Pararoo,” Christodoulou said, speaking to Neos Kosmos from the USA earlier this week. “But I will also be very stoked to play for my country and proud to take this opportunity. Ever since the training camp in March this year, I have been trying to train at least four times a week and push myself as hard as possible.”
Despite the added workload of studying in Year 12, Christodoulou has attended weekly training and games for the Victorian Paralympic Football team to further develop his strength and Cardiovascular fitness for the demands of international football.
“This will be a great test for us with USA who are ranked 4th in the world and Canada who are 10th,”coach Lammert said. “Our long term goal is to be back in the top 10, so these games are vital for our preparation to achieve this goal. We had a very successful World-championship last year, but with the classification changes it’s a new era in CP (Cerebal Palsy) Football and we are looking forward to the new challenge.”
The Trinations international tournament in the US is part of the Pararoos’ preparation for the IFCPF Asia-Oceania Championships in Iran in November. The championship will also double as a qualifier for the 2019 IFCPF World Cup in Spain.
Christodoulou told Neos Kosmos, that watching the Socceroos in Russia last month definitely inspired him to want to follow in their footsteps and play in next year’s World Cup in Spain: “As a team, in order to qualify for the World Cup, we will have to beat other teams in several tournaments, so fingers crossed, with our determination and hard work, we will play in a World Cup which would be my dream,” he said.