Western United trio Besian Kutleshi, Anthony Didulica and William Kengni have each earned call-ups to a domestic training camp with the Subway Joeys next week.
Held at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the camp comes three months out of the Joeys’ AFC U17 Asian Cup campaign in Saudi Arabia.
The week-long camp will put the players in front of Brad Moloney and his coaching staff ahead of the tournament which also serves as qualification for the FIFA U17 World Cup in Qatar.
This selection is the latest in a growing number of international recognitions for Kutleshi and Didulica having starred in recent camps.
The pair both featured heavily as the Joeys won the ASEAN U16 Boys’ Championships in July – Didulica winning the golden boot for the tournament – and helped Australia secure Asian Cup qualification in October.
While Kutleshi and Didulica are seasoned campaigners at national team level, this represents a first opportunity with the Joeys for Kengni.
A talented 2009-born left-back, Kengni recently joined Western United from Melbourne Victory and took part in the Club’s recent South Korea tour for the K League Asian Youth Championship.
The youngster – who hails locally from the north-west – has joined his older brother Yannik in the Green and Black and will be eager to impress with the national team ahead of his first campaign at Western United.
Western United General Manager of Football Mal Impiombato hailed the Club’s continued prominence in youth national team selections.
“It’s been an incredibly positive period for the Club with a number of players selected in U17, U20 and U23 squads in the past six months,” he said.
“Besian and Anthony have been regulars in this environment and we are eager to see them continue growing from strength to strength. We are equally looking forward to watching Will flourish in his first experience and as a new member of our Academy this year.
“With the VPL and NPL seasons only a matter of weeks away, we are immensely proud of the work being done in our youth program and we look forward to see that continue to thrive.”
The Western United trio will head into camp with the Victorian season right around the corner as the Club’s best young talents prepare to shine once again.
