Young defenders Nectarios Triantis and Lucas Mauragis have once more been called up for Olyroos duty as the team begins it preparations for the AFC U23 Asian Cup next year with two friendlies to be held in Saudia Arabia.
The Australian U23 side is looking to prepare itself for the conditions of the Middle East by playing two fixtures against Saudi Arabia and the Asian Cup hosts, Qatar, with both games taking place at the Prince Saud Bin Jalawi Stadium in Khobar.
Greek-Australian defenders Nectarios Triantis and Lucas Mauragis have both made the 24-man squad for the games, which the Olyroos manager, Tony Vidmar, says marks the beginning of an important period for the U23 program.
“There’s been some really positive results in recent camps at the Maurice Rovello Tournament and in securing qualification for the U-23 Asian Cup,” Mr Vidmar said.
“Those are important for the confidence and belief within this group, as we build towards a phase of competition that is significant within our program.”
The Australian youngsters will first clash with Qatar on Friday November 17 before taking on Saudi Arabia four days later on Tuesday November 21, with the coach hoping this helps prepare his players for the climate in store for them at the tournament.
“We’ve secured games against teams who will provide a different challenge to those we’ve recently faced, in very similar conditions to what we’ll see in Doha next year – in terms of acclimatising the squad it ticks several boxes,” Mr Vidmar said.
“There are four available matches to prepare ahead of our first Asian Cup group game, so every part of our preparation needs to be geared towards that, ensuring we can be at our best and effectively execute our plans on the pitch.”
The squad boasts some high-quality talent in addition to the young Greek-Australians, headlined chiefly by Celtic winger Marco Tilio.
Mr Vidmar is hopeful the experience can synergise the team as well as build greater depth in the squad so that all his players can be ready if and when required to play their part.
“It’s important for us to ensure we have a squad that is familiar with our environment, as they may be called upon throughout our Asian Cup campaign or beyond – be it due to injuries or player availability,” the Olyroos coach said.
“Having a wider group of players all on the same page is an important element to any success we collectively strive for.”
Australia’s U23s are one of 16 teams that will compete at the Asian Cup next year, with the ultimate goal of finishing in the top three to automatically qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics as the AFC representatives.
There is also an intercontinental play-off for the fourth-best team organised against a CAF (Africa) team to determine the final qualification spot, meaning top four is the absolute minimum target for the Aussies.
“We’ve spoken about what success at an Asian Cup and in turn, Olympic qualification looks like for the players individually and as a collective – there’s real excitement as 2024 approaches,” Mr Vidmar said.
