Jake picked for the Olyroos
19-year-old soccer star Jake Girdwood-Reich has been selected as a member of the Olyroos, the Australian U23 national squad.
Jake Girdwood-Reich
Jake, who plays for Sydney FC A-League men’s team, will leave with the squad for Saudi Arabia after Sydney FC plays their A league match against Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand next week.
This is Jake’s third call-up for national representation, having previously represented Australia in U17 and U19 competitive tournaments. The Olyroo selection is a notable achievement at four years younger than the U23 cut-off.
Jake has had a highly successful year in the A-League, playing every game for Sydney FC so far this season, including the Australia Cup. He is also currently ranked third in the Liberty Next Gen Tracker, which rates players aged 21 or under. He sits behind Jacob Farrell (Central Coast Mariners) and Alex Paulsen (Wellington Phoenix), who are both aged 21.
The Olyroos will travel to compete in the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) U23 Championship – Saudi Arabia March 22-27, 2024. It is a warm-up tournament for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U23 Asian Cup on April 15-23, 2024, in Qatar. The Qatar tournament grants three qualifying spots for the 2024 Olympic Games football tournament held later this year, July-August, in Paris, France.
The WAFF tournament will be played at the Prince Saud Bin Jalawi Stadium in Saudi Arabia. There are eight participating nations: Australia, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Korea Republic, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Thailand. With a slightly different but interesting format, the eight participating teams are divided into four first-round games, with subsequent games’ opponents based on results. Each team will play three matches throughout the tournament.
The Olyroos have been drawn in the fourth group, Group D to play Iraq in the first game. The next match will be against either Egypt or the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The third match opponent for Australia will depend on results.
Australia will take an extended 26-man squad to the tournament in what will be the Olyroos’ final opportunity to prepare for the AFC U-23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024™. Olyroos Head Coach Tony Vidmar sees this tournament as the start of what could be a really exciting next six months for this squad.
“We’ve been building towards this as a group for some time now and this window presents as perfect preparation for the U23 Asian Cup in April,” Vidmar said in an FFA press release. “The extra games are hugely beneficial and have given us the chance to take an extended squad and provide more opportunities to players who are in contention for our U23 Asian Cup squad. The players understand what’s at stake, and I’ve got no doubt the squad will get our 2024 campaign started on the right note in Saudi Arabia,” concluded Vidmar.
The Olyroos are one of 16 teams who have already qualified for the AFC U23 Asian Cup™, Qatar April 15-23, 2024. Historically, Australian men’s teams have had a checkered history in being able to win their way through against member nations of the AFC to the main tournaments like the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup youth and senior tournaments.
Should they finish in the top three in April at the U23 Asian Cup, they will automatically qualify for the Paris Olympic Games as the AFC representatives, while the fourth-best AFC team will play a play-off match against a nation from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for the final qualification spot. Australia shares a pool with Iraq, Vietnam and South Korea in that tournament.
Australia U23 v Iraq U23
Thursday, 21 March 2024
Kick-off: 8.00pm AST / 4am AEDT (Friday, 22 March)
Prince Saud Bin Jalawi Stadium, Saudi Arabia
Australia U23 v TBC
Saturday, 23 March 2024
Kick-off: 8.00pm AST / 4am AEDT (Sunday, 24 March)
Prince Saud Bin Jalawi Stadium, Saudi Arabia
Australia U23 v Egypt/UAE (TBC)
Tuesday, 26 March 2024
Kick-off: 8.00pm AST / 4am AEDT (Wednesday, 27 March)
Prince Saud Bin Jalawi Stadium, Saudi Arabia
