Tony Vidmar has selected his U23s squad for the Doha International Cup to be played in late March and after the success of the Young Socceroos in China last month, another group of players from the A-League production line look set to impress on the world stage.
The squad is stacked with talent, with all bar one of the team being called up from the domestic competition and Danish-based Mohamed Toure the exception to the rule.
It is a whirlwind of a tournament, with matches on the 19th, 22nd and 25th of March, against Croatia, UAE and Qatar respectively. The kick-off times are awful for the majority of Australians, yet the group of players that Vidmar has assembled might well be worth an early morning or two.
The Young Socceroos did what some cynics thought impossible and brought home silverware from the recently held U20 Asian Cup. Their unbeaten run under the tutelage of Trevor Morgan and dramatic win against Saudi Arabia in the final brought home the second continental trophy won by a men’s team since Australia made the move to Asia 20 years ago.
Young Socceroos celebrate AFC U20 Asian Cup. (Photo by Zhizhao Wu/Getty Images)
The performance woke up many a pundit who longed for the so-called Golden Generation days of the early 2000s, when a fine group of players made serious noise against top-quality teams in friendlies and then proceeded to shock World Cup audiences in 2006.
Frankly, it was time for those pundits to wake up and move forward, in full realisation that the great Australian names of two generations back were created in completely different ways to those in the current crop.
It seems some have now managed to grasp that point, with plenty of print copy being dedicated to the success of A-League academies and the outstanding depth of talent that is being produced in the national competition.
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The revenue being accumulated by A-League clubs via the transfers of great talent is at an all-time high and set to explode further in the coming years. Week after week, another young face appears on an A-League pitch and impresses, whilst the quality of players missing out on age-restricted teams is noticeable.
Vidmar’s squad is laced with talent. Melbourne City’s Patrick Beach looks a potentially brilliant custodian to anchor the defensive unit. Kealey Adamson (Macarthur FC), Kasey Bos (Melbourne City), Josh Rawlins (Melbourne Victory) and Aidan Simmons (Western Sydney Wanderers) will all be key players defensively.
Adrian Segecic has exploded as an A-League talent this season for Sydney FC and along with Jordi Valadon (Melbourne Victory), Oscar Priestman (Western Sydney), Corey Hollman (Sydney FC) and Ethan Alagich from Adelaide United, they will hold Australian hopes firmly in their hands in the midfield.
Corey Hollman. (Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images)
Up front, the presence of Toure will scare plenty of opposition defensive plans and along with Yaya Dukuly (Adelaide United), Jing Reece (Melbourne Victory) and Clayton Taylor of the Jets, the team looks capable of scoring freely enough to do well in the tournament.
Win or lose, the message emanating from the group selected is one of the future and it also raises exciting questions around just where some of these players will be during the World Cup cycle that will follow North America 2026.
No doubt a few of the 20s that won the recent Asian Cup will be pushing for selection, yet this group, along with recently graduated Olyroos such as Alou Kuol, Nicolas Milanovic, Ryan Teague and Nishan Velupillay, will also be in the mix when it comes to the Socceroo team formed to qualify for the 2032 World Cup in Saudi Arabia.
And that is fundamentally the point. The talent being developed at A-League level, a competition many an Australian still believes was an error in judgement and a disrespecting of the past, is a direct result of a long-term plan.
Traditionally, Australian football has never really had one.
Growing up and watching our national team struggle and scrape for opponents willing to even compete against the Socceroos was frustrating. Frankly, we were miles off the pace when it came to international standard; hence, the reason we celebrated so hard when given the chance to play a top nation. The mayhem if the result went our way only enunciates the point further.
The contemporary Socceroos are consistent World Cup qualifiers, never taken lightly by opponents and as shown in Qatar 2022, capable on a World Stage like never before.
The kids are leading us into the future with great hope and a strong performance in Doha might convince a few more that the A-League model, as imperfect as it might be, was indeed a massive step forward for our national teams.
