Holger Osieck has named a provisional 25-man Australia squad for the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) East Asian Cup 2013 qualifying tournament which will be held from 1-9 December 2012 in Hong Kong.
With the tournament being played outside official FIFA match dates, Osieck has been forced to select a squad of players playing in the A-League, those who have finished their seasons at club level and those on mid-season breaks.
Sydney FC star Brett Emerton, Melbourne Victory striker Archie Thompson and Dinamo Moscow defender Luke Wilkshire are the most recognised names on the list and are joined by the likes of Sydney's Terry Antonis, Brisbane Road defender Ivan Franjic and Melbourne Heart's Michael Marrone.
The Socceroos will meet in Sydney for a pre-tournament camp on November 26 which runs until the 29th before departing for Hong Kong on 30 November. Osieck will name his final squad that will travel to the tournament on Thursday 29 November.
'The EAFF East Asian Cup is a four-team tournament for Men & Women which is held every four years rotating between Japan, Korea Republic & China PR as the host nation.
'The teams that will participate in the EAFF East Asian Cup for men are Japan, Korea Republic & 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.'
Provisional Socceroos squad for EAFF East Asian Cup qualifiers
Terry Antonis (Sydney FC) Eli Babalj (Red Star Belgrade) Aziz Behich (Melbourne Heart) Robert Cornthwaite (Chunnam Dragons) Dino Djulbic (Guizhou Renhe) Ivan Franjic (Brisbane Roar) Brett Emerton (Sydney FC) Eugene Galekovic (gk) (Adelaide United) Richard Garcia (Melbourne Heart) Rostyn Griffiths (Guangzhou R&F) Ben Halloran (Brisbane Roar) Scott Jamieson (Perth Glory) Osama Malik (Adelaide United) Michael Marrone (Melbourne Heart) Matt McKay (Busan I'Park) Mark Milligan (Melbourne Victory) Aaron Mooy (Western Sydney Wanderers) Tomas Rogic (Central Coast Mariners) Mathew Ryan (gk) (Central Coast Mariners) Matt Smith (Brisbane Roar) Adam Taggart (Newcastle Jets) Archie Thompson (Melbourne Victory) Michael Thwaite (Perth Glory) Dario Vidosic (Adelaide United) Luke Wilkshire (Dinamo Moscow)
