City, Wanderers dominate Young Socceroos

Oct 17, 2017 - 4:57 AM Melbourne City will provide an astonishing eight players in the Young Socceroos' squad, aiming to qualify for next year's under-19 Asian Championship.

The commitment of City, and Western Sydney with seven players, to nurturing young talent is underlined by the contingent, which heads to Vietnam next month for three qualifiers.

Australia face North Korea, Hong Kong and Northern Mariana Islands, with only one team assured to progress to the 2018 tournament, hosted by Indonesia.

The qualifiers were to be have held in the regional Victorian city of Shepparton but have been moved to Hanoi after the Australian government refused to grant visas to the visiting North Koreans.

Football Federation Australia expressed its frustration at the decision, which gives away a major home advantage for coach Ufuk Talay and his squad.

"It's disappointing that we aren't able to play these qualification matches in our own backyard, but it will be a great experience for the boys to play in Vietnam," Talay said.

Several of the teenagers have A-League experience.

City's Daniel Arzani, Denis Genreau and Dylan Pierias have had first-team action, while Melbourne Victory's 17-year-old talent Christian Theoharous is another to have played in the A-League.

Source: AAP