Adelaide United FC’s impressive start to the Hyundai A-League 2012/13 Season has seen three Reds named in a provisional Qantas Socceroos squad for the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) East Asia Cup 2013 qualifying tournament.
Adelaide United FC-s impressive start to the Hyundai A-League 2012/13 Season has seen three Reds named in a provisional Qantas Socceroos squad for the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) East Asia Cup 2013 qualifying tournament from 1-9 December 2012 in Hong Kong.
Captain Eugene Galekovic, midfield pair Dario Vidosic and Osama Malik make up part of Qantas Socceroos Head Coach Holger Osieck-s 25-player squad that will assemble in Sydney for a pre-tournament camp from November 26-29. Osieck will name his final squad that will travel to the tournament on Thursday 29 November before departing for Hong Kong.
Due to the tournament being played outside official FIFA match dates, the squad is made up predominantly of Australian based players, with only five of the players selected not currently playing in the Hyundai A-League.
Galekovic has been capped by the Qantas Socceroos four times and was also part of Australia-s 2010 FIFA World Cup squad in South Africa, while Vidosic has made 14 appearances for the Qantas Socceroos, the most recent being in a friendly against Serbia last year.
But for Malik, it is the first time he has been called into Australia-s senior squad, and Adelaide United Coach John Kosmina believes it is just reward for the 22 year old.
“I think it-s fantastic, especially for Ozzie that he-s got himself into a position where he can be considered for a national team squad,” Kosmina said.
“It-s a long way from where he was 12 months ago. Dario and Eugene have both been in good form, they-ve been there before and done that but I-m so happy for Ozzie, it-s a great step forward in his career.”
Former Adelaide United players Robert Cornthwaite, Michael Marrone and Scott Jamieson were also named in the provisional squad.
The EAFF East Asian Cup is a four-team tournament for Men & Women which is held every four years rotating between Japan, Korea Republic & China PR as the host nation.
The teams that will participate in the EAFF East Asian Cup for men are Japan, Korea Republic & China PR with a fourth team determined by a qualification process. The qualifiers for the men-s edition of the EAFF East Asian Cup 2013 will be played in Hong Kong from 1-9 December 2012 and will involve teams from Australia, Chinese-Taipei, Guam, Hong Kong & DPR Korea.
