Qantas Joeys squad named for ASEAN Championship

The Australian Under 16 Football Team leave Australia on Wednesday to participate in an Asean Football Federation Youth Championship in Jakarta from 9-19 July.

The Australian Under 16 Football Team leave Australia on Wednesday to participate in an Asean Football Federation Youth Championship in Jakarta from 9-19 July.

Coach Martyn Crook, has named 18 players to take part in the five team tournament which also includes Bahrain, Malaysia, Singapore and host nation, Indonesia.

"This is an important part of our preparation for the Asian Football Confederation's (AFC) Under 16 Championships, and gives me a good opportunity to see the boys in action in conditions different from those they're used to at home," Crook said.

The AFC Under 16 Championships will be held in Uzbekistan in October.

"It is also the first time this group of players has played in a tournament against players of their own age. Past tournaments have been against older players, so this will be a very good test of just how we're doing at this age group."

"Being able to benchmark our performance at the age group is particularly important as this age group includes the players who will form the core of the Socceroos in 2018."

Crook said there is one debutant amongst the group, striker Kerem Bulut from NSW. The full squad is:

Kerem Bulut - striker - NSW Christopher Bush - midfielder - ACT Million Butshiire - striker - WA Joseph Costa - midfielder - SA Nathan Farrell - defender - SA Petar Franjic - defender - VIC Brendan Hamill - defender - NSW Benjamin Harrington - midfielder - ACT Kamal Ibrahim - midfielder - VIC Benjamin Kantarovski - midfielder - NNSW Robert Kolak - goalkeeper - NSW Jared Lum - midfielder - NSW Chahine Noujaim - fullback - SA Trent Sainsbury - defender - WA Nikola Stanojevic - striker - NSW Lawrence Thomas - goalkeeper - NSW Marc Warren - left back - NSW Tedros Yabio - midfielder - VIC

The tournament schedule will see the Qantas Joeys play four matches in six days with finals to be held on 19 July. The Qantas Joeys will continue their preparation for the Under 16 AFC Championships with club-based tournaments in the Netherlands and Germany in August.