Olyroos squad stacked with A-Leagues talent for this month’s U23 Asian Cup

The Subway Olyroos squad for the upcoming 2024 AFC Under-23 Asian Cup is dominated by players from the Isuzu UTE A-League.

Tony Vidmar named his 23-man squad for the tournament in Qatar, with 15 players from the A-Leagues, including Marco Tilio who is on loan at Melbourne City from Scottish champions Celtic.

The Asian Cup, which doubles as AFC qualifiers for this year’s Olympic Games in Paris, will see Australia face Jordan (April 15), Indonesia (April 18) and Qatar (April 21) in Group A after the Subway Olyroos finished runners-up at the recent West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) U23 Championship.

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Australia’s squad features Jake Hollman (Macarthur FC), Nicolas Milanovic (Western Sydney Wanderers), Lachlan Brook (Western Sydney Wanderers), Nishan Velupillay (Melbourne Victory), Ryan Teague (Melbourne Victory), Jordi Valadon (Melbourne Victory), Patrick Beach (Melbourne City), Callum Talbot (Melbourne City), Cameroon Cook (Perth Glory), Jordan Courtney-Perkins (Sydney FC), Jake Girdwood-Reich (Sydney FC), Jacob Farrell (Central Coast Mariners), Alou Kuol (Central Coast Mariners), Mark Natta (Newcastle Jets) and Tilio from the domestic competition.

“Everything we’ve done over the last 12-months has been focused on preparing for the Asian Cup,” head coach Tony Vidmar said.

“We set clear goals and expectations around what we want to achieve in Doha, and I’ve been really impressed by the way the group has taken ownership of that.

“There’s a strong desire and belief within this group that I believe will serve us well throughout the challenging moments that an international tournament of this calibre will present.”

The Subway Olyroos will be without the likes of Alessandro Circati (Parma), Nicholas Bilokapic (Peterborough United), Calem Nieuwenhof (Hearts), Cameron Peupion (Brighton and Hove Albion), Nectarios Triantis (Hibernian) and Patrick Yazbek (Viking FK) after they were not released by their European clubs.

Vidmar added: “I’ve been open and honest with my disappointment that the Asian Cup falls outside of a FIFA Window, but we knew access to players would be a challenge and it’s something we’ve planned for in recent months.

“I just feel for those who’ve not been given the opportunity to join us, as representing your country at any level is something you never forget, and they would have benefited greatly from the experience.

“Our ability to prepare for this, build depth across the squad and foster important connections between our final squad gives me every confidence in this group and what they can achieve in Doha.”

Match Schedule

Australia U23 v Jordan U23
Date: Monday, 15 April 2024
Kick-off: 4.00pm AST / 11pm AEST
Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha

Indonesia U23 v Australia U23
Date: Thursday, 18 April 2024
Kick-off: 4.00pm AST / 11pm AEST
Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha

Qatar U23 v Australia U23
Date: Sunday, 21 April 2024
Kick-off: 6.30pm AST / 1.30am AEST (Monday, 22 April)
Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha

Olyroos squad for Asian Cup