The Australian soccer team will soon begin its preparation for the mini-tournament that will decide which team from the Asian zone will represent the continent in the upcoming Olympic Games.
The players who have been chosen to represent Australia in the competition were announced last week by Football Federation Australia (FFA), with a noticeable strong Greek presence within the squad.
There are four Greek Australians among the 23 that have been called up, including Panos Armenakas, George Timotheou, Johnny Koutroumbis and Alex Gersbach.
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Armenakas belongs to Greek Super League One side Panathinaikos, but has yet to see first team action this season, waiting for his chance to come along from club manager Giorgos Donis.
Timotheou is a very exciting prospect for Australia, as he was signed by German Bundesliga giants Schalke 04 last season from Sydney Olympic, while this season his European journey continues at Belgium and Zulte Waregem.
Alex Gersbach is an experienced left full back who despite his young age has already played in Norway, France and Denmark.While Johnny Koutroumbis was able to bounce back after his battle with cancer last season and is now continuing to enjoy his football with the Newcastle Jets.
The team will meet in Doha to begin preparations for their upcoming matches against Thailand, Iraq and Bahrain for Group A of the Olympic qualifiers.