Olyroos squad named for AFC U/23 Championships qualifiers

Harry Souttar is massive, he’s Scottish and like Martin Boyle before him, he wants to play for Australia.

Big Harry Souttar has been named in the latest Olyroos squad.

• Smithies: Penalties for dissent must set strong example
• Champions League: Real Madrid destroyed in crazy upset

He's the two-metre-tall "beast" hoping to one day become the next Scottish Socceroo.

And Harry Souttar is taking his first steps towards pledging allegiance to Australia after the young Aberdeen-born centre-back was named in Graham Arnold’s Olyroos squad on Wednesday.

Souttar is among 24 names set to travel next week to a training camp in Malaysia, where the national Under-23 team will play two friendlies, before 23 of those players head to Cambodia for a tournament that will make or break Australia’s chances of qualifying for a first Olympics since 2008.

The 20-year-old, currently on loan with League One side Fleetwood Town, was first flagged with Football Federation Australia last year by Stoke City teammate Adam Federici.

When Federici informed them Souttar already had an Australian passport through his mother, Socceroos and Olyroos assistant coach Rene Muelensteen added him to his list of European-based players to visit.

Big Harry Souttar has been named in the latest Olyroos squad.

The Souttar name is familiar - last year Harry’s 22-year-old brother John piqued interest Down Under when his Hearts manager Craig Levein warned Scotland risked losing the defender if he wasn’t soon capped by national boss Alex McLeish.

Levein’s intervention appeared to work given John has since played for Scotland at senior level, though has said he was never contacted by FFA nor considered playing for Australia.

However Harry, despite having represented Scotland at Under-17 and Under-19 level, is understood to be up for the switch to green and gold.

Standing at 1.98m tall, he’s described by Arnold as a “beast” who’s very good with his feet.

It comes months after fellow Scot Martin Boyle was lured to the Socceroos based on his father’s Australian heritage, and it’s likely Boyle would have crossed paths with Souttar at Dundee despite the latter playing mostly for the youth team.

Scotland-born Martin Boyle made an instant impact with the Socceroos. Picture: Toby Zerna

He’s one of eight overseas-based players in the Olyroos squad alongside Melbourne-born Inter Milan youth product Reno Piscopo, former Melbourne Victory starlets Sebastian Pasquali (at Ajax but linked with Western United) and Pierce Waring (Cerezo Osaka), and PEC Zwolle’s Melbourne City product Denis Genreau.

It also features capped Socceroos Alex Gersbach (NAC Breda) and Thomas Deng (Melbourne Victory), who join a host of A-League players for the crucial camp and tournament, during which the Olyroos will face South Korea, Cambodia and Chinese Taipei in Group H.

Only the winner of each group is guaranteed a spot in the final Olympic qualifying tournament next January, with the four best second-placed teams from the 11 groups also progressing to the AFC Under-23 Championship in Thailand, at which the top three teams will qualify for Tokyo 2020.

Full Olyroos squad:

Nathaniel ATKINSON (Melbourne City FC, Australia), Keanu BACCUS (Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Australia), George BLACKWOOD (Adelaide United, Australia), Jake BRIMMER (Perth Glory FC, Australia), Joseph CHAMPNESS (Newcastle Jets FC, Australia), Nicholas D’AGOSTINO (Brisbane Roar FC, Australia), Thomas DENG (Melbourne Victory FC, Australia), Denis GENREAU (PEC Zwolle, Netherlands), Alex GERSBACH (NAC Breda, Netherlands), Thomas GLOVER (Gk) (Tottenham Hotspur, England), Jordan HOLMES (Gk) (St Mirren, Scotland), John KOUTROUMBIS (Newcastle Jets FC, Australia), Abraham MAJOK (Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Australia), Daniel MARGUSH (Gk) (Adelaide United, Australia), Riley MCGREE (Melbourne City FC, Australia), Tass MOURDOUKOUTAS (Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Australia), Aiden O’NEILL (Central Coast Mariners FC, Australia), Sebastian PASQUALI (Ajax Amsterdam, Netherlands), Reno PISCOPO (AC Renate, Italy), Harry SOUTTAR (Stoke City, England), Ivan VUJICA (Newcastle Jets FC, Australia), Lachlan WALES (Melbourne City FC, Australia), Pierce WARING (Cerezo Osaka, Japan), Brandon WILSON (Perth Glory FC, Australia)