A host of European-based talent have been blocked from Olyroos selection for the Under-23 Asian Cup, while Adelaide United’s Bayern Munich-bound star Nestory Irankunda has also been omitted.
Looking to qualify for the Paris Olympics, head coach Tony Vidmar has unveiled a 23-player squad for this month’s tournament made up largely of members of the team that reached the final of last month’s WAFF Championship in Saudi Arabia, alongside the return of Marco Tilio, Jacob Farrell and Ryan Teague.
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Staged from April 15 to May 3, the three highest finishes at the Under-23 Asian Cup will automatically qualify for Paris, while the fourth-placed nation will face African nation Guinea in a playoff for the final slot on offer.
With A-League Men clubs required to release players as per terms of the unbundling agreement between the league and Football Australia, 15 members of the squad ply their trade in the Australian top-flight, with Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory contributing three players each.
Newcastle United winger Garang Kuol, on loan at FC Volendam, headlines the European-based contingent that Vidmar has been able to call upon, alongside Reims forward Mohamed Toure (on loan at Paris FC), Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Jacob Italiano, Lechia Gdańsk’s Louis D’Arrigo, and FC Dordrecht’s Adrian Segecic. However, six players — Alessandro Circati, Nicholas Bilokapic, Calem Nieuwenhof, Cameron Peupion, Nectarios Triantis, and Patrick Yazbek — were noted by Football Australia as not being released by their clubs.
Though scoring a maiden senior international hattrick for Adelaide over the weekend, Irankunda has not been tapped for selection.
Despite external pressure to call him up for both under-23 and senior internationals, Football Australia has remained steadfast in taking a cautious approach with the 18-year-old attacker, earmarking a steady progression through its junior pathway.
“There’s so much noise around him that I think it’s actually impacting what he’s doing on the field,” Vidmar told ESPN. “We think highly of him. We think there’s so much he can give you.
“We want him to have a 10-plus year international career, we want to be proud of someone who’s come through junior football in Australia and is making his mark. We don’t want it to fizzle out and be a 10-second international career and we have to be careful and mindful of that side of it as well.
“Because we don’t have too many players like that. And we don’t want to destroy them too early.”
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