Olyroos squad announced for must win Asian Cup qualifiers

Football Australia have announced their 21 man Olyroos squad for their two-legged AFC U23 Asian Cup qualifiers against Indonesia. The winners will progress to Uzbekistan 2022.

The Olyroos' fixtures for progressing to next year's AFC U-23 Asian Cup tournament are scheduled for the end of this month. Australia were originally scheduled to also have China PR and Brunei in their qualification group but both nations withdrew from the tournament.

Olyroos AFC U23 Asian Cup Qualifiers Squad

21 players called up for the upcoming qualifiers at the end of the month.
Winner of two-legged matches against Indonesia will progress to Uzbekistan 2022.
The Olyroos have been training in Dubai in advance of the importance of the matches.

As the matches were unable to be held in Indonesia, both nations are headed to Tajikistan. The games will be held at Damir Stadium in Dushanbe on October 27, 2021 and October 30, 2021 with both games kicking off at 11PM AEDT.

The majority of the squad has been in Dubai training in advance of the upcoming qualifiers. This includes a number of A-League Men's players. While in the United Arab Emirates, the squad also took part in cultural relations including visiting the Australian Pavilion at the World Exposition.

Graham Arnold had previously coached the side at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but Joeys (U17s) Head Coach Trevor Morgan is now serving as the interim coach. Morgan spoke of the upcoming qualifiers and the Dubai training camp when Football Australia announced the squad:

“It has been great to see how much it means to the players to come together.

“They love representing Australia and have not had the opportunity to for such a long time.”

“We have been delighted with the energy and enthusiasm that the players have shown since they’ve arrived in Dubai.

"While logistical and operational challenges around COVID prevented the group from arriving as one, the majority of the squad are now settled in camp and have been putting some fantastic work in on the training pitch.

“The squad we’ve selected for next week’s qualifiers casts a real eye to the future, with the core of the squad age-eligible to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in three years’ time.

“The bulk of the players in the squad have already earned A-League Men’s match minutes, and we believe that each player’s time within the national team environment this month will serve to complement his development.

"This is something that shone through in the last U23s cycle under Graham Arnold, with players such as Harry Souttar, Denis Genreau, Riley McGree, and Connor Metcalfe combining club football and youth national team activity on their respective paths to their Socceroos debuts.

“We’re very thankful for the support of several overseas and A-Leagues clubs in sending their players to camp as early as possible.

"This has given the players vital extra time to build understanding, and highlights the club’s recognition of what wearing the Australian jersey means for Australian players,” said Morgan.

The squad for the upcoming qualifiers is as follows:

Name	Club, Country	Junior Club (Member Federation)
Adisu BAYEW	Western United FC, Australia	Melbourne Lions FC (Football Victoria)
Zaydan BELLO	Melbourne Victory FC, Australia	Sporting Whittlesea (Football Victoria)
Jordan BOS	Melbourne City FC, Australia	Hoppers Crossing SC (Football Victoria)
Noah BOTIC	Western United FC, Australia	Hurstville ZFC (Football NSW)
Lachlan BROOK	Brentford B, England	Gawler Eagles FC (Football South Australia)
Kai CALDERBANK-PARK (Gk)	Connah’s Quay FC, Wales	Unanderra Hearts FC (Football NSW)
Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS	Radkow Czestochowa, Poland	Brisbane City FC (Football Queensland)
Luke DUZEL	Western United FC, Australia	Melbourne Knights FC (Football Victoria)
Taras GOMULKA	Melbourne City FC, Australia	Modbury Vista SC (Football South Australia)
Jacob ITALIANO	Borussia Monchengladbach II, Germany	Inglewood United FC (Football West)
Alessandro LOPANE	Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Australia	APIA Leichhardt FC (Football NSW)
Lucas MAURAGIS	Newcastle Jets FC, Australia	Merimbula Grasshoppers FC (Football NSW)
Lewis MILLER	Central Coast Mariners FC, Australia	Pittwater RSL FC (Football NSW)
Fabian MONGE	Xanthi FC, Greece	Mount Pritchard (Football NSW)
Adam PAVLESIC (Gk)	Sydney FC, Australia	Sydney United Juniors FC (Football NSW)
Luka PRSO	Wellington Phoenix FC, New Zealand	Castle Hill United FC (Football NSW)
Nicholas SUMAN (Gk)	Macarthur FC, Australia	Colo Cougars SFC (Football NSW)
Callum TALBOT	Sydney FC, Australia	Gymea United FC (Football NSW)
Marc TOKICH	Mjallby AIF, Sweden	Canberra Croatia FC (Football NSW)
Patrick WOOD	Sydney FC, Australia	Collaroy Cromer Strikers FC (Football NSW)
Patrick YAZBEK	Sydney FC, Australia	Austral Soccer Club (Football NSW)