Melbourne City’s Australian U23 representatives will be looking to qualify for the 2020 AFC U23 Championships over the next week in Cambodia.
Lachlan Wales, Riley McGree, Nathaniel Atkinson and loanee Denis Genreau will be a part of Graham Arnold’s side to take on Cambodia, Chinese Taipei and Korea Republic as they kick-off their campaign against the hosts on Friday night.
The side began their preparations with a 1-1 friendly draw with Malaysia U23’s last week and after spending a week acclimatising to the conditions, McGree says his side is ready for the tournament.
“(This past week was spent) implementing the style of how we’re going to play both in attack and defence, what we’re going to come up against with these Asian teams,” he said.
“We want to score as many goals as we can and concede as least as we can, and that’s just the main goal coming into this camp and converting that into the tournament.
“What we’re going to have to do is try and create as many chances as we can and put (the opposition) away early and put as many goals past them in the match.”
Upcoming Matches | Australia U-23 National Team
Australia U-23 v Cambodia U-23 (2020 AFC U-23 Championship Qualification – Group H)
Date: Friday, 22 March 2019
Venue: Phnom Penh Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Kick-off: 8.00pm (local); 12.00am Saturday (AEDT)
Chinese Taipei U-23 v Australia U-23 (2020 AFC U-23 Championship Qualification – Group H)
Date: Sunday, 24 March 2019
Venue: Phnom Penh Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Kick-off: 5.00pm (local); 9.00pm (AEDT)
Korea Republic U-23 v Australia U-23 (2020 AFC U-23 Championship Qualification – Group H)
Date: Tuesday, 26 March 2019
Venue: Phnom Penh Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Kick-off: 5.00pm (local); 9.00pm (AEDT)
