NTC trio selected for the Joeys for the AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers in Vietnam

Three FFSA NTC boys have been selected to represent Australia for the Joeys’ upcoming 2020 AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers in Vietnam.

Bernardo Oliviera, Mohamed Toure and goalkeeper Ethan Cox will join the squad in camp at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra next week before flying to Vietnam.

Ethan and Bernardo also represented Australia earlier this year at the AFF U-15 Championship in Chonburi, Thailand.

 The news comes after a good few weeks for our NTC program with Yaya Dukuly and Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio currently in the UK on a tour with the older Joeys, and NTC graduates Lachlan Brook, Louis D'Arrigo and Jai King lifting the AFF U-18 Championship trophy for the Young Socceroos in August.

Football Federation South Australia Technical Director, Airton Andrioli, is pleased with the recent success of the NTC program.

The FFSA development pathway program continues to play a very important role in the development of SA players. We have had players consistently selected to represent Australia throughout the different national team age groups, transitioning to the Adelaide United youth team and Hyundai A-League squads. 

It is great to see players identified and given the opportunity to represent their country. We wish Bernardo, Mohamed, Ethan, and the whole Joeys squad all the best for the upcoming qualifiers.

Airton will be joining the Joeys at the camp next week to assist with final squad preparations for the qualifiers.

The youngsters – who represent Australia’s younger Joeys age group and not the older cohort which will venture to this year’s FIFA U-17 World Cup in Brazil – will contest Group H of qualifying in Vietnam and will come up against the host nation, Timor-Leste, Mongolia, and Macau.

Australia will need to top its qualification group or finish as one of the four best second-placed teams across the 11 groups to advance to the 2020 AFC U-16 Championship.

The 2020 AFC U-16 Championship serves as the qualification tournament for the 2021 FIFA U-17 World Cup, with four nations set to advance from that tournament as Asia’s representatives at the prestigious world youth competition. 

The Joeys will play all of their four fixtures at the National Youth Football Training Centre in Hanoi with their first match against Mongolia taking place on Monday, 16 September 2019.

Joeys 23-Player Squad | 2020 AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers (Group H) | September 14 – 22 2019 | Hanoi, Vietnam

Joeys | Match Schedule | 2020 AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers (Group H)

Mongolia v Australia
Date: Monday, 16 September 2019
Venue: National Youth Football Training Centre, Hanoi, Vietnam
Kick-off: 7.00pm (local); 10.00pm (AEST)

Australia v Macau
Date: Wednesday, 18 September 2019
Venue: National Youth Football Training Centre, Hanoi, Vietnam
Kick-off: 7.00pm (local); 10.00pm (AEST)

Timor-Leste v Australia
Date: Friday, 20 September 2019
Venue: National Youth Football Training Centre, Hanoi, Vietnam
Kick-off: 4.00pm (local); 7.00pm (AEST)

Australia v Vietnam
Sunday, 22 September 2019
Venue: National Youth Football Training Centre, Hanoi, Vietnam
Kick-off: 7.00pm (local); 10.00pm (AEST)