Indiana Dos Santos's star continues to rise after the Shellharbour young gun was named in the latest Australia women's national under-17s football team.
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The teenager was on Thursday included in the Junior Matildas' final 23-player squad to travel to Vietnam for the upcoming round two AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup Indonesia qualifiers. The team will meet up for a pre-tournament camp this Saturday before departing Australian shores, with matches to begin next week.
Australia has drawn Group B and will play matches in Hanoi against the Phillipines, host nation Vietnam and Bangladesh. The winners and runners-up of each group will qualify for next April's AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup Indonesia.
The selection is great reward for Dos Santos, who was called up to a team camp last week ahead of the final squad being picked by head coach Rae Dower.
It continues a stellar 12 months for the 15-year-old, who became the youngest player to debut for Sydney FC last A-League Women's season. She also came off the bench in the sky blues' 4-0 win over Western United in the grand final.
"We're so excited to head to Hanoi, off the back of the Matildas' amazing performances at the FIFA Women's World Cup and take another step towards securing our own FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup qualification," Dower said.
"We know that our opponents will be just as determined to secure that coveted spot at the Asian Cup finals next year, so we are under no illusions that the three matches will be hotly contested in trying conditions.
"We want to continue to evolve our playing style and I believe that the team we have assembled are adaptable and flexible to combat the different opponents we will face."
Junior Matildas squad:
Layla Adams, Ischia Brooking, Ava Carlson, Madeleine Caspers, Ruby Cuthbert, Sienna Dale, Sian Dewey, Indiana Dos Santos, Emma Dundas, Mikayla Duong, Tiana Fuller, Georgia Groidis, Isabela Hoyos, Grace Kuilamu, Shelby McMahon, Kiera Meyers, Chloe Parker, Georgia Ritchie, Lillian Skelly, Jessica Skinner, Amelia Tartaglia, Annabelle Yates and Talia Younis.
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Joshua Bartlett
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
