Adam Taggart has been named in Holger Osieck’s final 20-man Socceroos squad for the East Asian Cup qualifying tournament.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets forward Adam Taggart has been named in Holger Osieck-s final 20-man Socceroos squad for the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) East Asian Cup 2013 qualifying tournament.
Taggart is now in-line to make his senior international debut for the Socceroos, having already represented Australia at under 20-s and under 23-s level.
The 19-year-old played a key role in the Young Socceroos- successful AFC U-19 Championship campaign earlier this month which saw them make the semi-finals of the tournament and also qualify for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
The Socceroos will depart for Hong Kong tomorrow morning (Friday 30 November) and will play their first match of the tournament against Hong Kong on Monday 3 December (kick-off 8:50pm AEDT), followed by DPR Korea on Wednesday 5 December (kick-off 11:30pm AEDT), then Guam on Friday 7 December (kick-off 8:50pm AEDT) with their final match of the tournament against Chinese Taipei on Sunday 9 December (kick-off 8:00pm AEDT).
Taggart-s selection in the squad means he will miss the Jets- clash with Brisbane Roar this weekend, as well as the Round 9 fixture against the Central Coast Mariners at Hunter Stadium.
The teams that will participate in the EAFF East Asian Cup for men are Japan, Korea Republic and China PR with a fourth team determined by a qualification process. The qualifiers for the men-s edition of the EAFF East Asian Cup 2013 will be played in Hong Kong from 1-9 December 2012 and will involve teams from Australia, Chinese-Taipei, Guam, Hong Kong & DPR Korea.
The EAFF East Asian Cup 2013 will be held in Seoul, Korea Republic from 20-28 July 2013.
Socceroos Squad:
Terry ANTONIS (Sydney FC, Australia)
Eli BABALJ (FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd, SERBIA)
Aziz BEHICH (Melbourne Heart FC, Australia)
Robert CORNTHWAITE (Chunnam Dragons, KOREA REPUBLIC)
Dino DJULBIC (Guizhou Renhe, CHINA PR)
Ivan FRANJIC (Brisbane Roar FC, Australia)
Brett EMERTON (Sydney FC, Australia)
Eugene GALEKOVIC (gk) (Adelaide United FC, Australia)
Richard GARCIA (Melbourne Heart FC, Australia)
Scott JAMIESON (Perth Glory FC, Australia)
Michael MARRONE (Melbourne Heart FC, Australia)
Matt McKAY (Busan I Park, KOREA REPUBLIC)
Mark MILLIGAN (Melbourne Victory FC, Australia)
Aaron MOOY (Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Australia)
Tom ROGIC (Central Coast Mariners FC, Australia)
Mat RYAN (gk) (Central Coast Mariners FC, Australia)
Matt SMITH (Brisbane Roar FC, Australia)
Adam TAGGART (Newcastle Jets FC, Australia)
Archie THOMPSON (Melbourne Victory FC, Australia)
Michael THWAITE (Perth Glory FC, Australia)
