A mixture of top-shelf A-League talent and up-and-coming stars of tomorrow will descend on Qatar as part of Perth Glory’s 22-man squad ready to compete in the resumption of the 2020 AFC Champions League campaign.
Glory will be based in Doha to complete Group F fixtures against Shanghai Shenhua, FC Tokyo and Ulsan Hyundai in the hopes of progressing to the knockout stages in the club’s inaugural AFC Champions League campaign.
Neil Kilkenny and Bruno Fornaroli – joint-recipients of Perth Glory’s Most Glorious Player award for the 2019/20 A-League campaign – are accompanied by Spanish star Diego Castro in headlining Perth Glory Head Coach Richard Garcia’s travelling squad which is otherwise brimming with young, local talent.
READ: All the signings ahead of the 2020/21 A-League season
TRANSFER WRAP: Reds sign former FC Schalke defender, Muratovic departs Roar for Phoenix
MORE: 26 players assemble as Olyroos’ road to Tokyo resumes
Garcia has promoted Nicholas Walsh, Mason Tatafu, Joshua Rawlins, Giordano Colli and Bryce Bafford from the Perth Glory Academy First Team.
They will be accompanied by Luke Bodnar, Daniel Stynes and Declan Hughes who have all enjoyed recent successful stints playing NPL WA football.
New signing Andy Keogh is unable to join the squad despite receiving Australian citizenship last week; the striker is still classified as an overseas player under AFC regulations with Castro, Fornaroli and Darryl Lachman already occupying the three foreign player spots available to the club.
Garcia says the test he is handing to a largely inexperienced squad filled with developing talent is exactly what his young players deserve.
“We’ve seen these players develop through the academy… and they deserve this opportunity.” Garcia told the club website.
“It will be a huge test for them against the best that Asia has to offer and I am confident that they will adapt and rise to the challenge.
“Providing young WA players with opportunities to play for Glory is part of the club’s ambitions and I’m sure our Members and fans are as excited as we are to see how they perform.”
Perth’s five remaining group stage fixtures begin on Wednesday, November 18 and conclude on Thursday, December 3; Glory have currently played one fixture in the competition: a 1-0 loss to FC Tokyo in February.
Perth Glory AFC Champions League Squad
Liam REDDY, Tando VELAPHI, Cameron COOK, Nicholas WALSH, Luke BODNAR, Jonathan ASPROPOTAMITIS, Darryl LACHMAN, Mason TATAFU, Joshua RAWLINS, Brandon WILSON, Dane INGHAM, Carlo ARMIENTO, Osama MALIK, Declan HUGHES, Neil KILKENNY, Nick SULLIVAN, Daniel STYNES, Diego CASTRO, Bruno FORNAROLI, Giordano COLLI, Bryce BAFFORD, Nick D’AGOSTINO
Perth Glory’s AFC Champions League fixtures
- Wednesday 18 November (6pm WST) v Shanghai Shenhua at Education City Stadium, Al-Rayyan
- Tuesday 24 November (9pm WST) v Ulsan Hyundai at Education City Stadium, Al-Rayyan
- Friday 27 November (6pm WST) v Ulsan Hyundai at Education City Stadium, Al-Rayyan
- Monday 30 November (9pm WST) v Shanghai Shenhua at Education City Stadium, Al-Rayyan
- Thursday 3 December (6pm WST) v FC Tokyo at Education City Stadium, Al-Rayyan
