Barely a week after returning from the club’s pre-season tour of South Africa, highly-rated Glory defenders Riley Woodcock and Matt Davies will again be reaching for their passports after being named in the latest Young Socceroos squad.
Barely a week after returning from the club’s pre-season tour of South Africa, highly-rated Glory defenders Riley Woodcock and Matt Davies will again be reaching for their passports after being named in the latest Young Socceroos squad.
The duo will head to Spain for the COTIF Under-19 International Football Tournament which is set to run from 12th to 21st August and features several of the world’s top nations, including the hosts, Argentina, Japan and Mexico.
“We’ve got some great games to look forward to,” said Woodcock, “and they are being played in a really short space of time which is good as it’s the start of pre-season and it’ll definitely help with fitness.
“These games will give us a chance to see where we are at in terms of the Under-20 World Cup qualifiers which we’ve got coming up later this year.
“I was involved with the last group of Young Socceroos, but this is the new crop and we’re just starting out.
“It’ll be good this year because it’s more my age group and I can play left-back and having been involved before, I’m comfortable in that environment and with the coaches involved.”
Davies, meanwhile, is set to get his first taste of Young Socceroos action and is looking forward to testing himself at that level against such high-quality opposition.
“I’ve been in previous national team camps,” he said, “but they have been more of an Under-18s thing.
“This is my first involvement with the Young Socceroos and I’m really excited about it.
“We’ve got a two-day camp in Sydney before we go and they are bringing in the overseas-based players as well.
“I just can’t wait to get over there.
“I’m glad Riley’s been selected as well, because it’s always nice to have another Perth boy there to chat to.”
Paul Okon’s side have been drawn in Group A alongside Mexico, Spain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, while Japan, Canada, Argentina, Bulgaria and Belarus will contest Group B, with the top two from each group progressing to the semi-finals.
All the games are set to take place at the Estadio Municipal Els Arcs in the city of L’Alcudia and the Young Socceroos will get the Group A action underway when they tackle Qatar on 12th August.
Gareth Morgan
