Four Brisbane Roar young guns have been selected in the Olyroos squad, to compete in the Four Nations Tournament in Vietnam next week.
It’s a timely boost for the quartet with Olympic qualifying starting in February.
Brenda Riley reports.
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TRANSCRIPT
Luke Brattan, Luke DeVere, Mitch Nichols and Andrew Redmayne are on a high after being selected for the Under Twenty-Three, national team.
They will compete against North Korea and Kuwait, as well as the Vietnamese national team, before beginning qualifying in February for the two thousand and twelve London Olympic Games.
Luke Brattan, Brisbane Roar: “It was a bit of a shock because I haven’t really had much game time. Yeh, didn’t really expect it.”
Andrew Redmayne, Brisbane Roar: “This is pretty much a continuation from the Under Twenty team that went into the World Cup last year, so it’ll be good to catch up with the boys again.”
The players will spend two days in a training camp in Sydney before leaving for Vietnam on Friday.
Despite DeVere’s personal lapse, letting in three goals in the Roar’s 3-0 loss to the Victory on Sunday, he says their preparation is on track.
Luke DeVere, Brisbane Roar: “I think we’re all professional enough to move on from that, get a few days training and hopefully start the tournament well.”
Luke Bratton, who has been battling Bronchitis, has been forced to have a reduced training workload.
Luke Brattan, Brisbane Roar: “It’s been about three weeks now since I’ve been sick and I haven’t really been doing full training so, It’s been a bit of a set back but hopefully I’ll get a little bit of game time and get my fitness back up.”
Mitch Nichols is sporting a new ‘look’ he says is unrelated to the tournament.
Mitch Nichols, Brisbane Roar: “Nah, just wanted a change.”
All four players will miss out on Saturday’s home game against Adelaide United but Nichols and DeVere will return in time for next week’s clash against Melbourne Heart.
Brenda Riley, QUT News.