Illawarra locals Tate Russell and Joel King will stake their claim for next year’s AFC Under 19 Championships when they take part in three qualifiers for the tournament with the Young Socceroos next month.
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The duo were selected as part of a 23 player squad which will play three matches in Hanoi at the beginning of November.
The Young Socceroos will meet the Northern Mariana Islands on Saturday, 4 November before facing Hong Kong (November 6) and DPR Korea (November 8). Australia must top their group or finish as one of the top-five runners-up to qualify for the Championships.
“There is almost 12 months between the qualification phase and next year’s Championship proper, so this will give us a good window to prepare the squad should we successfully qualify,” coach Ufuk Talay said.
The matches were to be played in Australia, but the Federal Government declined VISA applications for the DPR Korean team.