JAMES Brown and defender Dylan McGowan have both been selected in Aurelio Vidmar’s 19-man Qantas Australian Under 23s squad for the upcoming third round of AFC Asian Qualifiers for the 2012 Olympic Games against Iraq and Uzbekistan.
Although disappointed that they will miss two United matches against Melbourne Heart and Melbourne Victory, the pair were naturally thrilled to be selected for such important international games.
“We’ve both been playing in most of the games and Browny has got himself a few goals so it’s a great reward for him and I’m delighted to be in the squad as well,” said McGowan, who was called up to the U23s for the first time.
“For me personally it was a bit of a surprise because I haven’t featured in the Olyroos before. I’ve been working hard here at Gold Coast United and I’m really happy with the way everything has gone for me,” McGowan added.
After blistering start to the season, followed by the Young Player of the Month award for October, this campaign has been the stuff of dreams for James Brown. A local product, the youngster who was tipped by Miron Bleiberg several years ago as a future Socceroo is now producing the form that makes him difficult to ignore.
But despite the excitement generated by his rapidly advancing career, Brown was typically modest about his Olyroo selection.
“There are a lot of good young players in Australia and I was a bit surprised to be called up just as Dylan was,” Brown said.
“To get selected is always nice of course and it’s up to us both to make the most of it and do what we can to help the team qualify for the Olympic games.”
The Olyroos play Iraq in their next AFC Asian Qualifiers on Tuesday 22 November (Al Arabi Stadium, Doha, Qatar) and then Uzbekistan five days later at Parramatta Stadium in NSW.
The teams in each group of the third round of qualifying play in a home-and-away format from 21 September 2011, to 14 March 14, 2012, with the winner of each group directly qualifying for the London 2012 Olympic Games Football competition.
The three second-placed teams from the third round will clash in a playoff at a centralised venue from March 25 to 29, 2012, and the winners of this group will meet the representatives of CAF (Africa) for a berth in the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Head Coach Vidmar knows the importance of these upcoming two matches in qualification process.
“After drawing our opening match against the UAE we need to get a good result from these two matches to give us the best possible chance of qualifying for the Olympics,” he said.
“With injuries to a number of players we have used in the previous matches, we’ve selected a few new faces following our recent training camp in Sydney.
“It will be up to these players to take their opportunity and step up to the challenge ahead.
“We will have a short camp together in Qatar before the Iraq match to work on things and I’m confident that the boys are up to it,” he concluded.
The AFC Asian Qualifiers for the 2012 London Games match between the Qantas Australian Under 23s and Uzbekistan will also be broadcast live and exclusive on FOX SPORTS.
FULL SQUAD:
James Brown, Gold Coast United
Dylan McGowan, Gold Coast United
Aziz Behich, Melbourne Heart
Mate Dugandzic, Melbourne Heart
Jason Hoffman, Melbourne Heart
Oliver Bozanic, Central Coast Mariners
Brad McDonald, Central Coast Mariners
Mathew Ryan (gk), Central Coast Mariners
Mark Birighitti (gk), Adelaide United
Daniel Mullen, Adelaide United
Matthew Jurman, Brisbane Roar
Mitch Nichols, Brisbane Roar
Kofi Danning, Brisbane Roar
Dimitrios Petratos, Sydney FC
Sebastian Ryall, Sydney FC
Rhyan Grant, Sydney FC
Matthew Foschini, Melbourne Victory
Marko Jesic, Newcastle Jets
Adam Taggart, Perth Glory
Upcoming Match Details
AFC Asian Qualifiers for the 2012 London Games – Third Round
Iraq v Qantas Australian U23s
Al Arabi Stadium, Doha, Qatar
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Kick-off: 5:15pm local (1:15 am AEDT)
AFC Asian Qualifiers for the 2012 London Games – Third Round
Qantas Australian U23s v Uzbekistan
Parramatta Stadium, Parramatta
Sunday, 27 November 2011
Kick-off: 7:15pm AEDT