U23 Australia brings 8 young European stars to compete with U23 Vietnam

Today (December 19), Coach Ante Milicic officially announced the list of 23 U23 Australian players to attend the 2018 AFC U23 Championship in China.

U23 Australia is one of the first teams to finalize the list of participants in the 2018 AFC U23 Championship. The young team from the land of the Kangaroo is of great interest because they are in Group D with the participation of U23 Vietnam, U23 Korea and U23 Syria.

According to the announced list, coach Ante Milicic has called up 15 young players with the best form in the Australian National Championship (A-League), along with 8 players currently playing in Europe such as England, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium...

U23 Australia.

Due to the ongoing A-League and to avoid affecting the strength of the participating teams, Mr. Ante Milicic has decided to call up no more than 3 players from the same club to the Australian U23 team.

The list of 8 players currently playing in Europe includes: defender Alex Gersbach (Rosenborg BK, Norway), winger Ajdin Hrustic (Groningen FC, Netherlands), striker Deni Jurić (HNK Hajduk Split, Croatia), midfielder Riley McGree (Club Brugge, Belgium), goalkeeper Danijel Nizic (Morecambe FC, England), midfielder Aiden O'Neill (Burnley FC, England), striker Milislav Popovic (Eintracht Braunschweig II, Germany) and defender Aleksandar Susnjar (FK Mlada Boleslav, Czech Republic).

Coach Ante Milicic said: "Our squad has a combination of A-League and European players. I hope the players will show their own strengths."

"Participating in the AFC U23 Championship is an opportunity for Australia U23 to compete with the best players in the continent at the same age. The experience gained and the demonstration of their abilities will help the young players have the opportunity to be named in the World Cup next year," said Mr. Ante Milicic.

The Australian U23 team will gather in China in early January 2018. They will have a friendly match with Thailand U23 in Shanghai on January 6, before officially competing in the finals.

According to the schedule, the Australian U23 team will meet Syria on January 11, Vietnam on January 14 and South Korea on January 17 at Kunshan Stadium in Jiangsu province (China).

According to Danviet