Glory youngsters Joshua Rawlins and Aiki Tsukamoto are heading for Hanoi after being named in the Australia Under-17s squad for this month’s AFC U-16 Championship qualification matches which are to be held in the Vietnamese capital.
Australia, who will need to top their qualification group or finish as one of the four best second-placed teams across the 11 groups to advance to the 2020 AFC U-16 Championship, have been drawn alongside host nation, Timor-Leste, Mongolia and Macau in Group H.
Should they succeed in making it to the AFC U-16 Championship, Trevor Morgan’s side will require a top-four finish at that tournament in order to book their place as one of Asia’s representatives at the 2021 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
“Many of the players involved in our squad for the upcoming fixtures in Hanoi recently played their first international matches at the 2019 AFF U-15 Championship in Thailand,” said Morgan.
“We could see the growth of many of the players as they secured three wins and a draw from their five games in Chonburi and during this qualification tournament we are expecting to see further development individually and collectively with the sizeable prize in the form of qualification for the 2020 AFC U-16 Championship on the line.
“We will also welcome some new players into the group for the trip to Vietnam, and I am excited to see how they adapt to the challenge and opportunity of representing our nation at youth level.”
The Joeys will play all of their four fixtures in Hanoi at the National Youth Football Training Centre, with their opening game against Mongolia set to take place on Monday 16 September 2019.
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