The final preparations are well underway for the Australian men’s under 23 football team as they look to return to the Olympic fold for the Rio 2016 Games.
The Aussies have a tough task ahead needing to make the final or win the third/fourth place playoff of the 16 team AFC under 23 Championships in order to make their eighth Games appearance.
Despite being without the likes of Brad Smith (Liverpool, England), Jackson Irvine (Ross County, Scotland) and Daniel De Silva (Roda JV Kerkrade, Netherlands) after they were not released for the competition by their European clubs, Coach Aurelio Vidmar is confident he has the squad to secure Olympic qualification in Qatar.
“I’m very excited about the 23 chosen, there’s quite a few young boys in there that can excite the public for many years to come,” said Vidmar.
“We’ve got a few experienced guys too who have had a taste with the Socceroos so it’s a good mix.
“We know it will be a really good test for them. But I think it’s a chance for these young boys to stake a claim and show the Australian public what they have got.”
Knowing a strong start is key to eventually making it out of their group and into the knockout phase, the team has touched down in Dubai as they look to acclimatise to the local conditions.
Vidmar’s men will then head on to Doha where they will kick off their campaign on Thursday January 14 (Friday morning AEDT) when they face an in-form United Arab Emirates side.
The side will then take on Vietnam and Jordan to round out the group phase before the tournament is whittled down to the final eight.
If the Aussies can escape the group the tournament will only get tougher with the likes of defending champions Iraq or the classy South Korean side likely to set up a difficult quarter-final encounter.
Despite the tough matches ahead Melbourne Victory’s Connor Pain was confident the side can book their tickets to Rio.
“We’ve had a few camps now and a number of games and it seems the more we are together the better we are becoming,” said the 22-year-old midfielder.
“A fair few of the boys have been together for a while now and we are confident in everyone’s ability and believe that we can do the job done.”
The Australian men’s side made six consecutive Olympic Games appearances between 1988 and 2008 before missing out on the London 2012 competition when they failed to get out of the group at the Asian qualifiers.
The Aussies two more recent friendlies saw them go down 3-1 to Qatar and finish 1-1 with Iran.
The tournament kicks off on January 12 when Syria takes on Iran before Australia face the UAE two days later.
Match Details
Australia v UAE
14 January 2016
Grand Hamad Stadium
7.30pm (3.30am 15 January AEDT)
Vietnam v Australia
17 January 2016
Grand Hamad Stadium
4.30pm (12.30am 18 January AEDT)
Jordan v Australia
20 January 2016
Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium
7.30pm (3.30am 15 January AEDT)
Possible quarter final – 23 January 2016
Possible semi final – 26 January 2016
Possible 3rd/4th playoff – 29 January 2016
Possible Final – 30 January 2016
Squad
Mustafa Amini, Terry Antonis, Brandon Borrello, Josh Brilliante, Cameron Burgess, Thomas Deng, James Donachie, Jack Duncan, Ryan Edwards, Giancarlo Gallifuoco, Scott Galloway, Jason Geria, Alex Gerbasch, Andrew Hoole, Chris Ikonomidis, Paul Izzo, Aaron Lennox, Jamie Maclaren, Stefan Mauk, Brandon O'Neill, Connor Pain, Adam Taggart, Steven Ugarkovic.