The Subway Young Socceroos have convened in Western Sydney at the Blacktown Exercise, Sports & Technology Hub as part of a three-day domestic training camp.
Head Coach Trevor Morgan named an extended squad of 28 players for the camp and shared his thoughts in what is the first assembly for the U-20 cohort ahead of a series of activity throughout the remainder of 2024.
Morgan said the camp provided an opportunity for the Australian-based players to come together and enable him and his coaching staff to assess their capabilities ahead of what is anticipated to be a busy period over the next couple of months.
"It's a great opportunity to bring players in that we haven't seen for a while, because we haven't had activity so much this year," Morgan told Football Australia Media.
"Also there's some very new players that we've unearthed through watching in the A-League, visiting clubs and watching TDS matches.
"So we've brought in enough players here to play an internal match, which gives a few more players the opportunity to show what they can do."
|
|
Morgan went on to explain that the camp's purpose serves a number of benefits and ultimately to determine who can adapt quickly and absorb the instructions they are given.
"I think players get a chance to experience the environment, even in a short dose, they get a feeling what it's like to step out of their club and come in with players from all over the country and try and blend quickly," he added.
"For us it's really an observation exercise, we share a little bit of information.
"But in particular, we're very interested in what the boys do when they're together, and how they take a small bit of information on and apply it in game situations.
"... The key thing is when they play for the national team, they have to be confident in their own decisions. And so we make our information very simple.
"And then we give them plenty of room to express themselves and to take risks to try and win matches."
The U20s boss believed this youth level boasted a lot of talent with competition for places extremely high.
"I think there is a lot of depth in this age group and the 2005 age group is very strong," he said.
"2006 and 2007 were part of the Joeys last year, and we've unearthed some players even from outside those squads.
"So I think we're in a situation where every player has that healthy pressure that, 'I'm doing well, but so is the other guy'."
The ultimate objective with this group is to qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Chile 2025™, something the Young Socceroos have not been able to reach since 2013.
With the hope of changing that narrative, preparation will resume next month in June, where the Young Socceroos will take part in three friendly matches in South America. They will face Uruguay U-20 before playing two matches against Chile U-20, prior to the AFC U-20 Asian Cup 2025™ qualification phase commencing in September.
"The end goal is to try and qualify and go to a World Cup, which is about 12 months away," he continued.
"... Over the last 12 months, we've managed to play six high level internationals all in Europe so far against big, big nations like France, England, Netherlands.
"So now our opportunity to go to South America to play Chile and Uruguay, two fantastic national teams and to play them at their home. And in particular, the exciting thing about Chile is that that's the host nation for the World Cup next year.
"(So) we've got a couple of friendly tournaments to really refine our processes and test a few players out and then we start (AFC U-20 Asian Cup) qualifiers in September in Asia."
