Western United pair Besian Kutleshi and Anthony Didulica will fly the Australian flag with the Joeys at next month’s AFC U17 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia.
Both players been regulars with the Under-17 national team over the past 12 months, helping the team win the ASEAN U16 Boys’ Championship last year before qualifying for the Asian Cup.
After becoming Western United’s youngest-ever contracted player in August 2024, Kutleshi has continued to develop as one of the nation’s most exciting talents.
The 16-year-old has been a star performer in Andreas Papanicolaou’s Senior VPL 1 Men side so far this season with United sitting in third place on the table after seven matches.
Didulica has also been involved in the senior team after scoring two goals in the opening match of the Under 23’s season.
Since then, the gun attacker made his Senior VPL 1 Men debut in February and has featured another three times.
Western United General Manager of Football Mal Impiombato said competition football would provide another bit of impetus in the development of two of the Club’s standout talents.
“We are extremely proud of Besian and Anthony as they receive this recognition to compete in a significant international tournament,” he said.
“Both players continue to develop fantastically in our program thanks to the work of our fantastic staff, while also repeatedly showing their quality on the national team stage.
“We are very much looking forward to supporting Besian, Anthony and the entire squad as they hope to build on the fantastic work of all our youth national teams of late.”
The Joeys have been drawn into Group B in the tournament alongside Vietnam, United Arab Emirates and Japan.
Kutleshi and Didulica will be hoping to help guide the team towards tournament silverware, but also towards FIFA U17 World Cup qualification via successful qualification through the group stages.
Every match will be streamed live and free on 10 Play, so Western United fans can keep up to date with the team and with Kutleshi and Didulica’s progress.
