Perth Glory’s Youth Team will field two representatives in the Australian Under-18 side that will compete in the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney early next year.
Perth Glory-s Youth Team will field two representatives in the Australian Under-18 side that will compete in the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney early next year.
Defender Liam Harvey and goal keeper Dejan Aleksic are part of an 18 man squad who-ll play against teams from China, Chile and the USA and will be coached by former Socceroos skipper Paul Okon.
Harvey is one of the original members of the Glory Youth Team and has been a consistent performer in seven matches while Aleksic joined the team during the season and continues to blossom with every game.
The Australian Youth Olympic Festival has been running since 2001 following the success of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
The 2009 Festival promises to be the biggest yet with 1,550 athletes from 27 countries competing across 17 sports.
Nine members of the squad selected by Okon play for National Youth League teams.
“This tournament is a good opportunity for the younger guys to get some international experience,” said Okon.
“We are playing three strong teams over an intensive period of just four days so it will be a good test for them.
“It’s the type of opportunity that some players really make the most of, and I look forward to seeing how they go.”
National Youth Olympic Team squad
Dejan Aleksic (Perth Glory), Liam Harvey (Perth Glory), Dylan De Montis (AIS), Steve Lustica (Sydney FC), Lucas Andreucci (Adelaide United), Daniel Bowles (Queensland Roar), Tyler Thurtell (Queensland Roar), Kofi Danning (Sydney FC), Rhyan Grant (Sydney FC), Kliment Taseski (VIS), Koh Satake (QAS), Petar Franjic (VIS), Jacob Borg (NSWIS), Kearyn Baccus (NSWIS), Mitchell Bevan (Queensland Roar), Joshua Groenewald (VIS), James Virgili (NSWIS), Neko Vujevich (QAS)
National Youth Olympic Team
Schedule – Valentine Sports Park, Glenwood
Day 2 – 15 January 2009
Australia v China – kick off 3.00pm AWDT
USA v Chile – kick off 4.00pm AWDT
Day 3 – 16 January 2009
Chile v Australia – kick off 3.00pm AWDT
China v USA – kick off 4.00pm AWDT
Day 5 – 18 January 2009
Chile v China – kick off 3.00pm AWDT
Australia v USA – kick off 4.00pm AWDT
