Australian Under 23’s National Team Head Coach Josep Gombau has named a 26-player squad ahead of the upcoming AFC U-23 Championship China 2018 Qualifiers to be held next month in Myanmar.

The majority of the players are currently at Hyundai A-League clubs, with the additional five being overseas based (Awer Mabil, Thomas Glover, Daniel Nizic, Stefan Mauk and Milislav Popovic).

“I am very confident in the players we have picked for this tournament,” said Gombau.

“In all of the training camps we have had recently they have done really well and I am satisfied that the final 23 players that are chosen for the tournament can do the job.”

“For a lot of Asian countries they are currently in the middle of their seasons whereas in Australia it’s pre-season, but we have a number of players who have already been in pre-season for three weeks so they come into camp with some load and training under their belts.”

“But we have a camp for 10 days leading up to the start of the tournament so I’m confident we will arrive at the first match in good shape.”

“The main objective is obviously to qualify for the AFC U-23 Championship but for me the key is that we have a squad that is highly competitive and there is depth among the entire group.”

“We have our kind of football and philosophy of how we want to play which is important because we want to play good football and develop these players to one day become Socceroos.”

“Of the other teams, Myanmar playing at home will have a bit of an advantage but we will definitely be respecting our other two opponents in the group as well.”

The squad will gather in Sydney next week for a pre-tournament camp which will feature two training matches against the Western Sydney Wanderers FC and Central Coast Mariners.

The squad will then be reduced to 23 players before heading to Myanmar on 15 July.

Australia’s first match will be against Brunei Darussalam on 19 July, followed by Singapore on 21 July and then the host nation, Myanmar, on 23 July.

To qualify for next year’s AFC U-23 Championship, Australia needs to top its group or be one of the best five second placed teams of the ten qualifying groups.

Australian Under 23’s National Team Squad for AFC U-23 CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 Qualifiers

First Name Surname Position DOB Club Daniel ARZANI Forward 04-01-99 Melbourne City FC Jonathan ASPROPOTAMITIS Defender 07-06-96 Western Sydney Wanderers FC George BLACKWOOD Midfielder 06-04-97 Adelaide United FC Trent BUHAGIAR Forward 27-02-98 Central Coast Mariners FC Joe CALETTI Midfielder 01-01-98 Brisbane Roar FC Devante CLUT Midfielder 16-10-95 Newcastle Jets FC Nicholas COWBURN Defender 07-03-95 Newcastle Jets FC Thomas DENG Defender 20-03-97 Melbourne Victory FC Scott GALLOWAY Defender 25-04-95 Wellington Phoenix FC Thomas GLOVER Goalkeeper 14-12-97 Tottenham Hotspur, England Paul IZZO Goalkeeper 06-01-95 Adelaide United FC Lachlan JACKSON Defender 12-03-95 Newcastle Jets FC Bruce KAMAU Forward 28-03-95 Melbourne City FC Awer MABIL Forward 15-09-95 FC Midtjylland, Denmark Stefan MAUK Midfielder 22-10-95 NEC, Netherlands Riley McGREE Midfielder 02-11-98 Adelaide United FC Stefan NIGRO Defender 10-08-96 Melbourne Victory FC Daniel NIZIC Goalkeeper 15-03-95 Morecambe FC, England Jordan O'DOHERTY Forward 14-10-97 Adelaide United FC Milislav POPOVIC Forward 06-03-97 Eintracht Braunschweig, Germany Liam ROSE Midfielder 07-04-97 Central Coast Mariners FC Lachlan SCOTT Forward 15-04-97 Western Sydney Wanderers FC Jaushua SOTIRIO Forward 11-10-95 Western Sydney Wanderers FC Ruon TONGYIK Defender 28-12-96 Melbourne City FC Benjamin WARLAND Defender 04-09-96 Adelaide United FC Brandon WILSON Midfielder 28-01-97 Perth Glory FC

AFC U-23 CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 Qualifiers Group F - OFFICIAL MATCH SCHEDULE

Date No Match Kick-Off (local) Kick-Off (AEST) 19/7/2017 1 AUSTRALIA vs. BRUNEI DARUSSALAM 15:00 18:30 19/7/2017 2 MYANMAR vs. SINGAPORE 18:00 21:30 21/7/2017 3 BRUNEI DARUSSALAM vs. MYANMAR 15:00 18:30 21/7/2017 4 SINGAPORE vs. AUSTRALIA 18:00 21:30 23/7/2017 5 AUSTRALIA vs. MYANMAR 15:00 18:30 23/7/2017 6 SINGAPORE vs. BRUNEI DARUSSALAM 18:00 21:30

Venue: Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon