FOOTBALL: They may have one of the toughest routes to the Olympic Games but Australia’s men’s football team are not shying away from the task at hand.

Having appeared at every Olympic Games since Seoul in 1988, the side missed out on London 2012 after a challenging qualification campaign.

Aurelio Vidmar’s men bounced back earlier this year as they began their road to Rio with an element of ease as they defeated lowly ranked Myanmar, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong by a combined scoreline of 15-1.

The likes of Japan, South Korea, hosts Qatar and defending champions Iraq now await at the U23 Asian Championships as Australia look to claim a top three finish and return to Olympic competition.

“It would be massive to represent Australia in Rio,” Australian and Sydney FC attacker Andrew Hoole said.

“I think the players we have in the side have some real quality and that showed in the past games that we played.

“Coming into the next set of qualifiers we’ll be full of confidence that we get the right results for the team and the country.

“It would be great to see the team go through the qualifiers and into the Olympics.”

Hoole was one of the star performers in the first round of qualifying with the 21-year-old scoring a hat-trick in the Aussies 5-1 victory over Myanmar.

“They were my first goals for my country so it was obviously a nice feeling.

“It would be great to continue scoring and setting up goals in the national side especially in the big matches.”

Those big matches will come thick and fast when the qualifiers unfold in Doha in January and Hoole is relishing the chance to lead his side up front.

“I haven’t lined up against the majority of teams that will play in that tournament so it will be quite a challenge but you always want to play in big games.

“We know it is going to be tough but it is something we are looking forward to.”

One thing in Australia’s favour is the side’s increasing depth.

The team features a host of senior national team players including Adam Taggart, who started up front for Australia against defending champions Spain at the 2014 World Cup, Josh Brillante and Terry Antonis.

The strength of the domestic competition is also helping to produce the next crop of stars with Hoole among at least ten A-League players pushing for squad selection.

This talent across the park ensures players will be kept on their toes throughout the club season as they look to be a part of the national setup.

“There is definitely a lot of competition to make the team.

“There are a lot of good Australian players in this age groups so it’s going to be quite a challenge to make it. That is always good though going into such a big tournament.

“For me it’s about playing well for my club and then focusing on the international team when those chances come up.”

If Hoole and Australia do make the Rio 2016 Games they will go in search of Australia’s first Olympic medal in the sport.

“For the Australian team and for football in this country it would be great for our team to go to the Olympics and do quite well.

“It’s a massive task and these opportunities don’t come up all the time so you have to make the most of them and I think that we have the team to do that.”

Standing in Australia’s way will be some of the biggest names in world football with the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo having competed in previous tournaments.

The competition allows for three players over the 23-year-old age limit meaning some massive names could pull on their national colours in Rio.

“Growing up you always want to play against the best players and the best teams and I think at tournaments such as the Olympics you can come up against those sorts of players.

“It would be great to go head-to-head with some big names which will no doubt be there if we do make it.

“Hopefully we can do ourselves proud if we get there.”

Hoole and the Australian men will warm up for the qualifiers with matches against Turkey and Macedonia in early September. 

In total 12 teams will qualify for the Rio 2016 football tournament. They will play in six cities across Brazil with the final being held at the iconic Maracana in Rio itself. 

The Australian women, who were quarter-finalists at the 2015 World Cup, also have a tough Asian qualification task with a round-robin tournament from 29 February to 9 March.

Matt Bartolo
olympics.com.au