The dreams turning into reality: Jake becomes a Young Socceroo
Sydney FC mid-fielder 18-year-old Jake Girdwood-Reich has been selected for the Football Federation Australia (FFA) under-20s men’s team, the Young Socceroos.
The side will compete in the U20 FIFA World Cup qualifying finals tournament in Uzbekistan from March 1-18, 2023 with the under 20 FIFA World Cup 2023 tournament being played in Indonesia between May 10 and June 11 2023.
Jake GirdwooReich Photo: Football NSW
The Uzbekistan U20 tournament is organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and Australia will play Vietnam, Iran and Qatar in the early rounds in Fergan and Tashkent.
If Australia Australia is successful in the later knockout rounds, they will play in the finals games at the Bunyodkor Stadium in Tashkent on March 18. The players selected for Australia come mainly from A-League clubs. Jake plays for Sydney FC, with others playing with clubs overseas in the UK and Europe.
This Jake’s second opportunity to play for an Australian national youth team. He played for the successful Australian Joeys in the 2019 U17 FIFA World Cup AFC qualifying tournament in Hanoi, Vietnam. However, the AFC finals tournament and the U17 FIFA World Cup in Peru were both cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the FFA press release announcing the team, the U20 national coach Trevor Morgan said:
“We have selected players who are emerging talents in the A-League Men’s competition and overseas leagues that need to be exposed to international tournament conditions, and the AFC U-20 Asian Cup provides up to six games inside 18 days against varied opponents.
This squad of players have been inspired by the performances of the Subway Socceroos in Qatar, and those heading to Uzbekistan can’t wait to pull on the green and gold and represent not only themselves, their families and club, but the extended playing group on the international stage.
Australia has not featured at the FIFA U-20 World Cup since 2013, and the valuable experience it provides players on their way to the Subway Olyroos and Subway Socceroos is immeasurable.”
Jake is living his football dreams now almost every day as a professional Sydney FC A-League footballer, dreams that started at Clovelly Primary School in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and were reinforced on his football development pathway.
This pathway saw him spending time at NSW NPL clubs Sydney Olympic FC SAP, Apia Leichhardt Tigers NPL Youth, a short time with St Johnstone FC in Scotland. He also played with NSW NPL Futsal club Mascot Vipers before finally joining the Sydney FC Football Academy U13s.
Representative football started with the Sydney East region PSSA teams in primary school years 5 and 6 culminating in being a member of the NSW Primary School boys team that won the national championships held that year in Western Australia. He then played in NSW representative youth football and futsal teams, winning a number of national titles.
Jake told J-Wire: “I just took it a day at a time. Motivated by my love of football and my competitiveness on the field, I just kept going to the next training session and the next game. My family, my mum, dad and sister Tamara, have supported me all the way and have found the time and resources that enabled me to do my thing with football.
I keep my feet on the ground and have enjoyed building friendships with my teammates over the years. Many of these former teammates I now play against in opposition teams or I see cheering for Sydney FC at Allianz Stadium in Sydney.
Now I play with veteran professional players many years my senior from whom I learn about how to improve my football and the ups and downs of life as a professional footballer in the UK and Europe. I think you should never get too far ahead of yourself and cherish the memories created by wonderful, everyday experiences, and never forget and thank those who help you develop as player and person along the way.”
Jake still has dreams of one day being seen and recruited by an overseas club from the top leagues in the UK or Europe. If he is patient, determined each day at training and games and continues progressing as he has been, you never know what might happen.
In the meantime, 16-yr-old Moriah student Aden Grynberg has been selected for U17s Joeys.
