A-League products will provide plenty of excitement for Australia at next month’s AFC U23 Championship, writes Tom Smithies.
It was the battle royale of Sunday’s A-League elimination final, as Lewis Miller snapped at the heels of Craig Goodwin for 68 minutes. But beyond the contest for finals supremacy between Adelaide and the Mariners, there was another narrative at play.
Miller’s selection for the Australian U23 squad for next month’s AFC U23 Championships – aged 21 – puts him right among the coterie of fresh faces aiming to be the next generation of Socceroos, snapping at the heels of older, established internationals just like Goodwin.
READ: AUSTRALIAN U23 SQUAD UNVEILED
In fact seven of those who featured on the pitch during Sunday’s game are in the squad, among 13 of the 22 who have featured in the A-League this season. Two more played in it last season. As the blooding of new talent begins, the pathway from the A-League is crystal clear.
It reflects brilliantly well on the bravery of Adelaide and Central Coast in playing such young sides this season that the reward for those players who took the opportunity is international recognition. As former Socceroo Robbie Cornthwaite noted, selection in a squad like this takes the experiences of these players to a whole new level, and exposes them to conditions, playing styles and challenges significantly apart from their domestic comfort zones.
The age range, from 18 to 22, reflects the fact that the next Olympics is more than two years away, and the older members won’t be eligible for the qualifying cycle. But the suspicion must be that those players – Miller, Josh Nisbet and others – are being fast-tracked for potential higher recognirion, as the Socceroos seek fresh talent too.
Miller in particular has made a powerful impression this season with his athleticism combined with skilful feet that serve him well in tight spaces, though the same could be said of Nisbet and Jacob Farrell, the Mariners’ other fullback.
Among the Adelaide contingent, one name that stands out is Bernardo Oliveira, son of Adelaide legend Cassio and who also likes to go by a singular name – a Brazilian tradition for an Australian-raised talent.
Elsewhere Jordan Bos has been rewarded for a breakthrough season at Melbourne City – no mean feat for a 19-year-old given City’s playing stocks – while the valiant efforts of Patrick Wood and Patrick Yazbek in Sydney FC’s underwhelming campaign are also not in vain.
Of the overseas-based players, one name jumps out after his exploits in the Mariners’ colours last season – Alou Kuol has not enjoyed life since his loan move to Bundesliga 2 side Sandhausen in January, earning a red card on debut, and an international camp may prove a welcome change of environment to rediscover the effervescence with which he exploded onto the scene last year.
