Aussies back to Tashkent

Asia. Football is teaching me all about the Asian cities and countries. If it's Tashkent it must be Uzbekistan and THREE Canberrans, including Goulburns favourite player Chris Bush are included in the Australian Under 16 side. FFA Release below.

Qantas Joeys Head Coach Martyn Crook has selected a 23 player squad to compete at the upcoming AFC U16 Championships which will be held in Uzbekistan from 4-18 October 2008.



“We have been working hard for the past 18 months to prepare for this tournament and our performances at the ASEAN Cup and recent European tour have been promising,’ said Crook.



“This tournament is extremely important for us as it serves as the qualifier for FIFA U17 World Cup.



“We have very good information on our opposition and a quality group of players.



“On this basis, I am confident that we can do the job in Tashkent,” concluded Crook.



The Qantas Joeys qualified for the tournament last year. Earlier this year, the Qantas Joeys won the ASEAN Football Federation Under 16 Youth Championships in a dramatic penalty shoot-out against Bahrain.



The Qantas Joeys are drawn in Group C of the Championships alongside China PR, Saudi Arabia and Turkmenistan.



They play their play their first match of the tournament against Saudi Arabia on Sunday 5 October (kick-off 01.00am AEST Monday 6 October), and then face China PR on Tuesday 7 October (kick-ff 9:00pm AEST) before their final group match against Turkmenistan on Thursday 9 October (kick-off 10.00pm AEST).



The top two teams from each group then advance to the quarter finals on Sunday 12 October, with the winners progressing to the semi-finals which will be held on Wednesday 15 October. The final will be played on Saturday 18 October.



The venue for the Qantas Joeys first two matches will be the Pakhtakor Stadium in Tashkent which is the same venue that recently saw the Qantas Socceroos defeat Uzbekistan 0-1 in their 2010 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifier match.



The winner, runners-up, third-placed and fourth placed team in the competition will qualify for the FIFA U17 World Cup 2009 which will be held Nigeria in October.



The Qantas Joeys will depart Australia on Wednesday and will play a friendly match against host nation Uzbekistan on 28 September as part of their preparations for the AFC U16 Youth Championships.



ENDS



The Qantas Joeys will be departing Sydney International Airport on Wednesday 24 September (check-in 5:30am). Any media interested in interviewing or filming squad members should contact Adam Mark on 0409 390340 by 5.00pm Tuesday 23 September.


QANTAS JOEYS SQUAD


AFC U16 CHAMPIONSHIPS - UZBEKISTAN 2008

4-18 October 2008



Eli Babalj (WA), Chris Bush (ACTAS), Julius Davies (WA), Stephen Domenici (ACTAS), Cameron Edwards (WA), Petar Franjic (VIS), Nathan Farrell (SASI), Danai Gapare (ACTAS), Brendan Hamill (NSWIS), Kamal Ibrahim (VIS), Ben Kantarovski (Newcastle Jets), Robert Kolac (NSWIS), Aaron Lennox (NSWIS), Jared Lum (NSWIS), Chahine Noujaim (SASI), Mark Perrone (SASI), Dimitrios Petratos (NSWIS), Trent Sainsbury (WA), Nikola Stanojevic (NSWIS), Nicholas Tubbs (QAS), Marc Warren (NSWIS), Bailey Wright (VIS) and Teddy Yabio (VIS).





AFC U16 CHAMPIONSHIPS - UZBEKISTAN 2008

OFFCIAL MATCH SCHEDULE



Group A: BAHRAIN, I.R. IRAN, SINGAPORE, UZBEKISTAN



#
Date
Match
Venue
Kick-Off

1
4 Oct 2008
I.R. IRAN vs. BAHRAIN
Pakhtakor Stadium
20:00

2
4 Oct 2008
SINGAPORE vs. UZBEKISTAN
Pakhtakor Stadium
16:00

9
6 Oct 2008
BAHRAIN vs. SINGAPORE
Pakhtakor Stadium
20:00

10
6 Oct 2008
UZBEKISTAN vs. I.R. IRAN
Pakhtakor Stadium
16:00

17
8 Oct 2008
I.R. IRAN vs. SINGAPORE
MHSK Stadium
15:00

19
8 Oct 2008
UZBEKISTAN vs. BAHRAIN
Pakhtakor Stadium
15:00




Group B: INDIA, INDONESIA, KOREA REPUBLIC, SYRIA



#
Date
Match
Venue
Kick-Off

3
4 Oct 2008
SYRIA vs. INDONESIA
MHSK Stadium
18:00

4
4 Oct 2008
KOREA REPUBLIC vs. INDIA
MHSK Stadium
14:00

11
6 Oct 2008
INDONESIA vs. KOREA REPUBLIC
MHSK Stadium
14:00

12
6 Oct 2008
INDIA vs. SYRIA
MHSK Stadium
18:00

18
8 Oct 2008
SYRIA vs. KOREA REPUBLIC
Pakhtakor Stadium
19:00

20
8 Oct 2008
INDIA vs. INDONESIA
MHSK Stadium
19:00




Group C: AUSTRALIA, CHINA P.R., SAUDI ARABIA, TURKMENISTAN



#
Date
Match
Venue
Kick-Off

5
5 Oct 2008
CHINA P.R. vs. TURKMENISTAN
Pakhtakor Stadium
16:00

6
5 Oct 2008
SAUDI ARABIA vs. AUSTRALIA
Pakhtakor Stadium
20:00

13
7 Oct 2008
TURKMENISTAN vs. SAUDI ARABIA
Pakhtakor Stadium
20:00

14
7 Oct 2008
AUSTRALIA vs. CHINA P.R.
Pakhtakor Stadium
16:00

21
9 Oct 2008
CHINA P.R. vs. SAUDI ARABIA
Pakhtakor Stadium
15:00

23
9 Oct 2008
AUSTRALIA

vs. TURKMENISTAN MHSK Stadium
15:00




Group D: JAPAN, MALAYSIA, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, YEMEN



#
Date
Match
Venue
Kick-Off

7
5 Oct 2008
JAPAN vs. MALAYSIA
MHSK Stadium
14:00

8
5 Oct 2008
YEMEN vs. UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
MHSK Stadium
18:00

15
7 Oct 2008
MALAYSIA vs. YEMEN
MHSK Stadium
14:00

16
7 Oct 2008
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES vs. JAPAN
MHSK Stadium
18:00

22
9 Oct 2008
JAPAN vs. YEMEN
Pakhtakor Stadium
19:00

24
9 Oct 2008
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES vs. MALAYSIA
MHSK Stadium
19:00




Quarter Finals



#
Date
Match
Venue


QF1
12 Oct 2008
Winner Group A vs. Runner Up Group B
Pakhtakor Stadium
16:00

QF2
12 Oct 2008
Winner Group B vs. Runner Up Group A
Pakhtakor Stadium
20:00

QF3
12 Oct 2008
Winner Group C vs. Runner Up Group D
MHSK Stadium
14:00

QF4
12 Oct 2008
Winner Group D vs. Runner Up Group C
MHSK Stadium
18:00




Semi Finals



#
Date
Match
Venue


SF1
15 Oct 2008
Winner QF1 vs. Winner QF3
Pakhtakor Stadium
15:00

SF2
15 Oct 2008
Winner QF2 vs. Winner QF4
Pakhtakor Stadium
19:00




Final



#
Date
Match
Venue


F
18 Oct 2008
Winner SF1 vs. Winner SF2
Pakhtakor Stadium
16:00