Luke Vickery has been called into the Young Socceroos on the eve of the side’s ASEAN U-19 Boys’ Championship.
The Western United youngster comes in to replace the injured Peter Antoniou ahead of the side’s competition opener against Laos on Thursday evening.
Vickery will join United teammates Jake Najdovski and Dylan Leonard in camp in Indonesia as they prepare to compete in Group B alongside Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
The 18-year-old took part in a training camp with the squad in May after breaking into the Western United first team at the back end of the 2023/24 Isuzu UTE A-League Men season.
Having progressed through the Western United Academy, Vickery appeared four times in John Aloisi’s senior squad before signing his first professional contract last month.
The athletic attacker has 10 goals in 17 VPL 1 Men matches in 2024 and has been in particularly fine form of late, scoring five in his last three matches.
Western United General Manager of Football Mal Impiombato is delighted to see another of the Green and Black’s youngsters enter the squad.
“With Jake and Dylan already in camp, it is fantastic to see Luke earn this richly deserved opportunity to play competitive international football for the first time,” he said.
“We have been incredibly proud of Luke’s progress since he joined our Academy and we hope there are further international selections and a strong Isuzu UTE A-League season to come.
“Everyone at the Club is looking forward to watching all three of our players on the international stage and wish them the very best of luck for the tournament.”
Vickery’s selection continues a remarkably strong period of international call-ups for Western United’s youngsters.
With three players now in this Young Socceroos squad, they will be hoping to emulate Anthony Didulica’s heroics after he helped the Joeys to win the ASEAN U-16 Boys’ Championship earlier in July.
Luka Coveny has captained the New Zealand Under-20 national team to the final of the OFC U-19 Boys’ Championship and a place at the FIFA U20 World Cup 2025 in the process.
Added on to that, a quartet of Liberty A-League Women stars – Chloe Lincoln, Sasha Grove, Kahli Johnson and Avaani Prakash – recently flew the Green and Black flag with the Young Matildas in a two-match series against New Zealand.
The next generation of Australian footballing stars is taking shape at Ironbark Fields, and it’s time for you to get behind them by renewing your membership for the 2024/25 season, today.
