Australia national under-23 football team

Infobox National football team
Name = Australian U23 Team
Badge = FootballFederationAustralia-logo.png FIFA Trigramme = AUS
Nickname = Olyroos
Association = Football Federation Australia
Confederation = AFC (Asia)
Coach = flagicon|Australia Graham Arnold
Captain = Mark Milligan
Most caps =
Top scorer =
pattern_la1=_footaush06|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=_footaush06
leftarm1=FFE605|body1=FFC900|rightarm1=FFE605|shorts1=177245|socks1=FFC900
pattern_la2=_footausa06|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=_footausa06
leftarm2=000060|body2=000060|rightarm2=000060|shorts2=000060|socks2=FFC900
First game = Flagicon|Australia Australia 1 - 2 fb-rt|New Caledonia
(Nouméa, New Caledonia; November 6, 1967)
Largest win = Flagicon|Australia Australia 12 - 0 fb-rt|Vanuatu
(Adelaide, Australia; January 25, 1996)
Largest loss = Flagicon|Australia Australia 1 - 6 fb-rt|Poland
(Barcelona, Spain; August 5, 1992)

The Australian Under 23 football team, more commonly known as the Olyroos, is controlled by Football Federation Australia and represents Australia at football (soccer) in the Olympic Games.

Tournament History

respectively.

In 2000 at the Sydney Olympics the team lost all 3 group stage matches, to Italy, Nigeria & Honduras at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Sydney Football Stadium respectively, much to the dissapointment of the local media and then-active Australian Soccer Association. Currently, the team is managed by FFA staff Graham Arnold and Rob Baan, and the playing squad is drawn from clubs across Australia and Europe.

First Asian Campaign

The Olyroos' first qualifying game for the 2008 Beijing Olympics was held on February 7, 2007, when Australia hosted Taiwan in Adelaide. Midfielder Kristian Sarkies became the first player to score a hat-trick for the Under-23's in the Asian competition and Australia won the home tie 11–0. They then travelled to Taipei and narrowly edged out the home side 1–0 in difficult conditions to advance to the second stage of the qualifications.

, Australia won the first leg 2–0 and lost 2–1 in the second. In May 2007 they defeated Iran 3–1. Australia qualified for the third and final round of the Asian qualifications after beating Jordan 4–0 in their final game in June 2007.

The Olyroos met Iraq, Korea DPR and Lebanon at the final round (August till November 2007). Australia started their campaign with a scoreless draw against Iraq in Doha. Then the Olyroos went on to win their home games against North Korea (1–0) and Lebanon (3–0). After another scoreless draw against Lebanon in Beirut, Australia was behind Iraq with both eight points but Iraq leading because of the better goal difference. The decisive match was held in Gosford on November 17, 2007 and saw the Olyroos emerging as 2–0 winners thanks to goal from Adrian Leijer and Mark Milligan. The following 1–1 draw against North Korea in Pyongyang sealed Australia's qualification for Beijing, as they finished as group winners with 12 points, one more than Iraq.

Tournament Records

Olympic Football Tournament

*DNQ - Did not qualify
*DNP - Did not participate

Players

Current Squad

"The following players were named in the final squad for the 2008 Olympic Games." [cite web | date = 2008-07-04 | title = Selection snub for Olyroos stars | work = The World Game | url = http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/olyroos/selection-snub-for-olyroos-stars-122299/ | accessdate = 2008-08-06 ]

: *Over Age Players

Recent Call-Ups

References

External links

* [http://www.the-afc.com/eng/competitions/fixtures/index.jsp_AFR-2008-25.html AFC 2008 Olympic Games Qualification Website]
* [http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/MensU23/default.aspx?s=aus_mensu23s FFA - Official Website for the Olyroos]
* [http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/MensU23/default.aspx?s=aus_u23men_player_list FFA - Player Profiles]
* [http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/MensU23/default.aspx?s=aus_u23men_history FFA - History]
* [http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Olympics/U23Games.html Oz Football Olyroos Archive]