Kuol, Yazbek, Waddingham tapped by Vidmar for Olyroos' WAFF U23 Championship squad
With one eye on April's AFC U23 Championships, Tony Vidmar has been forced to juggle a host of complications in naming a 26-player squad for this month's WAFF U23 Championships in Saudi Arabia.
Garang Kuol, Patrick Yazbek, and 18-year-old Thomas Waddingham highlight the Olyroos squad for this month’s WAFF U23 Championships in Saudi Arabia, with injuries and club-enforced absences forcing coach Tony Vidmar to dig into his depth.
Vidmar unveiled his 26-player squad that will travel to the Gulf during the coming international window on Friday afternoon, a group that will likely contribute the bulk of the unit he subsequently takes to April’s AFC U23 Championships in Qatar - which will double as qualifiers for the Paris Olympics.
Their clubs already having informed Football Australia that they will not be releasing them for those championships – “At this very moment. They've been pretty much a firm no,” Vidmar told JDL Media – the likes of Nectarios Triantis, Nicholas Bilokapic, Cameron Peupion, and Alessandro Circati are absent from this squad.
Instead, emphasis is being placed on building chemistry and cohesion amongst players who will be available to travel to Doha, which is taking place outside a FIFA-recognised international window. Additionally, those unavailable for the U23s may now come into greater focus for Graham Arnold’s senior Socceroos side, given their selection for World Cup qualifiers against Lebanon would not serve to weaken the Olyroo program.
Noah Botic and Marco Tilio had both been tapped for selection, but foot and hamstring injuries have ruled them both out, with the former also set to miss next month’s AFC U23 championships and the latter now touch and go.
Highly touted Nestory Irankunda is also absent, with national team staff, mindful of the need to manage both his progression through the nation ranks and the expectations and pressure around him, earmarking the Young Socceroos of Trevor Morgan as his current focus.
With these various parameters in mind, Vidmar has selected a squad largely made up of A-League Men players, with the likes of Ryan Teague (despite a hip injury that will keep him out of Victory’s clash with Adelaide this weekend), Western Sydney attacker Nicolas Milanovic, breakout Sydney FC defenders Jake Girdwood-Reich and Jordan Courtney-Perkins, and Central Coast striker Alou Kuol.
Waddingham, who has scored five goals in his last four games for Brisbane Roar, appears to be one of the major beneficiaries of the various injuries and club interference, with Vidmar saying he’s been selected with both the future and the present in mind.
“I'm looking to this March window, the Asian Cup, the Olympic Games and beyond,” he told JDL Media. “He's performed well in the A-League. He was away with Trevor [Morgan’s] U20s in Spain, late last year and performed well. In discussing players who we think can make that next jump.
“And it is a big jump for him because he's been thrown in, Ross Aloisi threw him in at the very beginning of the season. And he's continued to go on.
“We always have to be mindful with these younger players that you don't burn him out too early. So we're mindful, we've seen what he can do, we just want to see what he can do and this other 23 level against physical bodies, football where it's gonna be small spaces, so we want to throw them in there and see what he can do.”
Unlike their international counterparts, domestic clubs are obligated to release their players as part of the unbundling agreement between the leagues’ and Football Australia.
Yazbek, Garang Kuol, Hosine Bility, Louis D'Arrigo, Steven Hall, Jacob Italiano, Alexander Popovic, Adrian Segecic, and Rhys Youlley, are the intentionally-based contingent in the squad.
Since moving to Premier League giants Newcastle United, Garang Kuol has struggled to build a sense of momentum during loan moves at Scottish side Hearts and Dutch outfit FC Volendam, with Vidmar conscious of how important it was for the national setup to help foster his talents.
“I've spoken to Garang just recently about the expectation of what we want if called upon,” said the coach. “He's called in now to this squad so this will be one where I'll sit down with him once he comes into camp. He needs to work with the team and work with the players around him.
“He's got certain qualities but he can't do that all on his own. He's still young. He's not played a lot of football but we're taking a belief that he can be special. And those are the type of players that we need in our country, I think there's a number of them there. And now we need to really help them along the way to get to that next step.”
The Olyroos will face Iraq on March 21 and, if they win, move on to a semifinal against either Egypt or the United Arab Emirates in the semifinals two days later. The final will then take place on March 26.
Australia has been drawn in Group A for next month's AFC Championships, alongside host nations Qatar, Jordan, and Indonesia, with the top two finishers progressing through to the quarterfinals.
The top three finishers from the championships will qualify automatically for July's Olympic Games, with the fourth-placed finisher to enter a playoff against an African side for the final slot at the Games.
Image Credit: Football Australia