Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: Australia coach Ante Milicic believes the Socceroos’ qualification for the FIFA World Cup in Russia later this year will give his players added incentive to perform to their maximum when they take to the field at the AFC U23 Championship 2018 in China.
The Australians have been drawn in Group D to face Syria, Vietnam and Korea Republic and will be looking to advance beyond the group phase after crashing out in the first round of the competition in 2016.
And Milicic is confident a strong showing by his players this month could see some of his squad press their case for inclusion in Australia’s squad for the biggest show of all in June.
“The Australian mentality is always to go out and win, and to do well,” he told www.the-afc.com.
“We are very comfortable with the squad that we have and we think a big advantage that we have with this group is that our senior national team have qualified for the FIFA World Cup, so there is a lot of motivation for these players to perform well and to push for Russia.
“Motivation is high within the squad. We believe that if we play our style, and play to our best, we can put in some good, consistent performances throughout the Championship.”
www.the-afc.com/en/more/photo/australia_u23.html
