Western Sydney Wanderers have announced their squad ahead of their Asian Champions League title defence starting on Wednesday night.
Not since Al Ittihad ten years ago has a team won back-to-back Champions League titles and CEO John Tsatsimas said to replicate that is the goal.
“Winning the AFC Champions League will be remembered as a game changer, not just for Western Sydney but for football in Australia,” said Tsatsimas.
“To become Champions of Asia against all odds in our debut season was an incredible achievement and set the platform for Australia becoming the first nation to hold the Champions League and Asian Cup at the same time.
“From our inception we have been making history and in the 2015 AFC Champions League we have set the bar high to continue to do so.”
The Champions League campaign will also be the first opportunity for fans to see new singing Kerem Bulut in action following his inclusion in the Champions League squad.
The striker is looking forward to getting on the pitch and can’t wait for his first taste of a packed Parramatta Stadium.
“I’ve been training and learning with the team since I’ve signed so I’m very keen to finally get out there and show the fans what I can do,” said Bulut.
“To walk out at a sold out Wanderland would be the best introduction I can imagine; I’ve watched a lot of footage of the fans during home matches but am yet to experience it in person.
“When you look at our group you see teams who should all be in the knockout rounds so it’s exciting that we’re able to bring such high quality matches to Western Sydney.”
The Wanderers kick-off their Champions League defence on Wednesday 25 February when they travel to Kashima Antlers before returning to Parramatta Stadium on Wednesday 4 March to host rivals Guangzhou Evergrande.
Western Sydney Wanderers 2015 AFC Champions League 30 man squad
1. Ante Covic (GK)
2. Shannon Cole
3. Yusuke Tanaka
4. Nikolai Topor-Stanley
5. Brendan Hamill
6. Antony Golec
7. Labinot Haliti
9. Tomi Juric
10. Yojiro Takahagi
11. Brendon Santalab
12. Nikita Rukavytsya
13. Matthew Spiranovic
14. Kerem Bulut
15. Yianni Perkatis
16. Jaushua Sotirio
17. Romeo Castelen
18. Iacopo La Rocca
19. Mark Bridge
20. Dean Bouzanis (GK)
23. Jason Trifiro
25. Sam Gallaway
30. Thomas Heward-Belle (GK)
31. Alusine Fofanah
32. Daniel Alessi
33. Nick Kalmar
35. Kearyn Baccus
36. Liam Youlley
37. Jonathan Aspropotamitis
38. Steve Kuzmanovski
39. Shayne D’Cunha
