Olyroos Head Coach Aurelio Vidmar and Young Socceroos Head Coach Jan Versleijen today announced a joint 31-player squad that will go into a training camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra next week (9th to 14th May 2011). This will be the last Australian-based training camp before both teams head overseas later in the month to continue their respective preparations.

The Olyroos will travel to Japan at the end of the month to play an international friendly match against the Japanese U-23 National team in Niigata, whilst the Young Socceroos will head to Europe to train and compete at the Terborg Tournament.

Tom Rogic, Adam Jenner and Ryan Edwards have been added to the squad which gathered in Melbourne last week, as well as goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis who has recently come off contract with Liverpool FC. Mate Dugandzic returns to the squad after recovering from an injury, but a slight calf strain will prevent Tahj Minniecon from joining the camp and Brian Bran has not been re-selected.

Aurelio Vidmar is very pleased with the progress made over the past two camps and will use this camp to finalise his squad for the upcoming match against the Japanese.

“We have turned the corner in terms of our match fitness after the last camp but, as seen in our training match against Melbourne Victory last week, we are not quite there yet.

“Against Victory, our first half was excellent, but we started to tire in the second half. We will need to build on that to be competitive.

“We are at a critical point in our preparations and we will continue to work on our shape and structure.

“The players need to assert themselves next week to guarantee their place on the plane to Japan and then the qualifiers,” concluded Vidmar.

After learning the draw for the FIFA U-20 World Cup last week, Jan Versleijen can now focus his attention on the group opponents.

“The past two camps have given me a good idea on the technical and tactical ability of the players and by the end of the second camp I noticed a marked improvement in the group.

“This camp will be more decisive and I will be looking to confirm the players for our upcoming tour to Europe which will comprise local and overseas-based players.

“We are getting closer to the World Cup, the players and staff are getting excited about the prospect of playing against the best in the world and the competition for places is getting tougher,” concluded Versleijen.

This is the last of a series of training camps for Australian-based players to prepare for the upcoming 2012 London Olympic Games Asian Qualifiers and FIFA U-20 World Cup Colombia 2011.  The Olyroos will face Yemen in the second round of the 2012 London Olympic Games Asian Qualifiers on the 19th and 23rd June 2011 with the venues to be confirmed at a later date. 

The Young Socceroos will compete at the FIFA U-20 World Cup Colombia 2011 which commences on the 29th July with the final to be played on the 20th August.

Football Federation Australia