Two Sydney FC Academy stars have been named in the Australian U17 side which will travel to Kuwait for the AFC U17 Asian Cup Qualifiers.
Jay Maltz and Nico Alfaro have been named amongst the 23 player squad for the qualifiers which will take place from October 19th-27th.
They have been drawn in Group G alongside Indonesia, hosts Kuwait and Northern Mariana Islands and will play each of their three matches from the Abdullah Al Khalifa Stadium in Mishref and will begin to assemble in from Thursday, 10 October for a pre-camp ahead of the Qualifiers commencing.
Matlz and Alfaro were recently included in the Sky Blues’ AFC Champions League 2 extended squad with the latter making his first senior appearance in July when Sydney took on Oakleigh Cannons in the Australia Cup.
In that match, Nico Alfaro became Sydney FC’s second youngest player on record, entering the field 16 years and 182 days. The only person to better him in that stat is Nikolas Tsattalios who made his debut in the 2006 Pre-Season Cup aged 16 years and 171 days.
Ahead of this camp, Head Coach Brad Maloney said he was pleased with the way his squad had been building towards these Qualifiers.
“The squad has been fantastic over the last six months, putting in great performances in both Indonesia and the Pacific, and we come into these Qualifiers feeling well prepared and connected as a group,” Maloney said.
“Throughout that time, we’ve seen a number of those players rewarded with A-League Men scholarships, where they’re training and playing at a high level which is only going to accelerate their development.
“We’ve been fortunate to have a core group of players involved in consecutive camps and they’ll arrive in Kuwait very clear on our standards, expectations and playing principles.
“Our preparation will be extremely important given the Qualifiers fall out of regular season. The squad has been diligent with their individual training programs, and I’ve been very impressed with their professionalism and commitment ahead of our pre-camp.
“This is the first step on our journey towards a World Cup and I know the players can’t wait to get started,” concluded Maloney.
Match Details
Subway Joeys v Northern Mariana Islands
Wednesday, 23 October 2024
Kick-off: 8.30pm (local) / 4.30am AEDT (Thursday, 24 October)
Abdullah Al Khalifa Stadium, Mishref
Kuwait v Subway Joeys
Friday, 25 October 2024
Kick-off: 8.30pm (local) / 4.30am AEDT (Saturday, 25 October)
Abdullah Al Khalifa Stadium, Mishref
Subway Joeys v Indonesia
Sunday, 27 October 2024
Kick-off: 5.30pm (local) / 1.30am AEDT (Monday, 28 October)
Abdullah Al Khalifa Stadium, Mishref
