Aurelio Vidmar has made changes to his squad for the upcoming AFC Asian Qualifier for the 2012 London Games match against the United Arab Emirates.
Qantas Australian U23s Head Coach Aurelio Vidmar has made changes to his squad for the upcoming AFC Asian Qualifier for the 2012 London Games match against the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Qantas Australian U23s Vice-Captain Mitch Nichols will return to Australia having collected his second yellow card of the qualification campaign and consequently suspended for the match against the UAE.
At this stage no replacement player will be called in for Nichols. Defender Sebastian Ryall has also returned to Australia due to a hamstring injury sustained in the match against Uzbekistan that is not likely to resolve in time for the UAE match. Ryall will be replaced by Gold Coast United-s Dylan McGowan.
The Qantas Australian U23s hopes of qualifying for the 2012 London Olympic Games have become slimmer overnight after FIFA announced that the UAE have been awarded a 3-0 victory for their London 2012 third round qualifying match against Iraq after FIFA found the Iraq Football Association guilty of fielding an ineligible player in the November 27 fixture.
The Qantas Australian U23s will now need to win their remaining two matches against the UAE and Iraq and hope that either Uzbekistan or UAE only accrue 1 point from their final two matches for goal difference to determine final placing.
The Qantas Australian Under 23s are currently in Dubai preparing for their next AFC Asian Qualifier for the 2012 London Games match against the UAE on the 22 February.
As part of their preparations for that match they will play an international friendly match against the Philippines at the Al Nasr Stadium on Thursday 16 February (Kick-Off 8pm local, 3am AEDT).
Qantas Australian Under 23s squad Mustafa Amini Central Coast Mariners Aziz Behich Melbourne Heart Mark Birighitti (GK) Adelaide United Oliver Bozanic Central Coast Mariners Kerem Bulut FK Mlada Bolesav, Czech Republic Isaka Cernak Melbourne Victory Mate Dugandzic Melbourne Heart Diogo Ferreira Melbourne Victory Matthew Foschini Melbourne Victory Antony Golec Adelaide United Jason Hoffman Melbourne Heart Matthew Jurman Brisbane Roar Ben Kantarovski Newcastle Jets Dylan McGowan Gold Coast United Daniel Mullen Adelaide United Dimitrios Petratos Sydney FC Mathew Ryan (GK) Central Coast Mariners Adam Taggart Perth Glory Rocco Visconte Brisbane Roar
Upcoming match details International friendly match Qantas Australian U23s v Philippines Zabeel Stadium, Dubai Thursday, 16 February 2012 Kick-off: 7:30pm local (2:30am AEDT)
AFC Asian Qualifiers for the 2012 London Games - Third Round UAE v Qantas Australian U23s Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, UAE Wednesday, 22 February 2012 Kick-off: 5:30pm local (00:30am AEDT)
Qantas Australian U23s v Iraq Central Coast Stadium, Gosford Wednesday, 14 March 2012 Kick-off: 7:30pm Gates Open 6.30pm