Sydney FC’s Nathan Amanatidis and AEK Athens player Dimitri Valkanis have been selected in the Young Socceroos squad for the upcoming China Panda Cup International Tournament in Chengdu, China.
Amanatidis is one of seven players receiving their first call up for the Young Socceroos.
The 18-year-old made his A-League debut last year, and went on to play 12 games for the 2023-24 season.
He began his youth career at the Greek based Adelaide Comets before playing NPL at West Adelaide and Adelaide United.
Now at Sydney FC, he has also featured at NPL level and played in the AFC Cup.
Valkanis will return from Greece, where he joined AEK Athens in September. He has played four matches in the Greek Super League 2 this season.
The 19-year-old is the son former Socceroo Michael Valkanis, who played for South Melbourne and Adelaide United, as well as in Greece, most notably with AEL.
Valkanis, like Amanatidis, is originally from Adelaide.
The tournament will feature U19 sides from China PR, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia, and will be contested in a round-robin format.
The squad will assemble in Chengdu from November 10 for the tournament, which will act as preparation for the AFC U20 Asian Cup China PR 2025.
Australia, China PR and Kyrgyzstan have all recently qualified for the U20 continental tournament – which serves as qualifying for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Chile 2025.
MATCH DETAILS:
Young Socceroos v Kyrgyzstan
Wednesday November 13
Chengdu Shuangliu Sports Centre Stadium, Chengdu
Kick-off: 3.30pm local / 6.30pm AEDT
China PR v Young Socceroos
Saturday November 16
Chengdu Shuangliu Sports Centre Stadium, Chengdu
Kick-off: 7.35pm local / 10.35pm AEDT
Young Socceroos v Mongolia
Tuesday November 19
Chengdu Shuangliu Sports Centre Stadium, Chengdu
Kick-off: 2.00pm local / 5.00pm AEDT
