Qantas Joeys selected for Turkish Friendlies

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The Qantas Joeys Coach Jan Versleijen has selected a squad of 25 players to represent Australia at the inaugural Australia-Turkey Friendly Football matches to be played in in Canakkale and Gelibolu (Gallipoli), Turkey, on 24 and 26 April 2009.

The Qantas Joeys Coach Jan Versleijen has selected a squad of 25 players to represent Australia at the inaugural Australia-Turkey Friendly Football matches to be played in in Canakkale and Gelibolu (Gallipoli), Turkey, on 24 and 26 April 2009.

The Qantas Joeys have been selected entirely from the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) scholarship players with this tour to be fully funded by the AIS.

The Qantas Joeys will prepare for the matches at the AIS European Training Centre in Varese, Italy and will play matches against youth teams from Italian clubs including AC Milan and Inter Milan.

These historic matches against Turkey are the first of what will be an annual event between the two countries which will see friendly football matches played in either Turkey or Australia in alternating years between designated men's and women's national teams.

The dates for this new annual football event were specifically selected to coincide with ANZAC Day (25 April) for Australia and National Sovereignty and Children-s Day (23 April) for Turkey.

The annual football event has the strong support of both the Australian and Turkish governments with Australia's Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith, Defence Minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, and NSW Premier, Nathan Rees, all expected to attend one of the matches.

Match Details

Friday 24 April 2009 Turkey U-16 v Qantas Joeys Canakkale Stadium, Canakkale 2:00pm local (9:00pm AEST)

Sunday 26 April 2009 Turkey U-16 v Qantas Joeys Gelibolu Stadium, Gelibolu 2:00pm local (9:00pm AEST)

Qantas Joeys Squad

Christophe Bush (ACT/AIS), Stephen Domenici (ACT/AIS), Jason Geria (ACT/AIS), Alexander Meibusch (ACT/AIS), Mustafa (Amini (NSW/AIS), Kerem Bulut (NSW/AIS), Kevin Davison (NSW/AIS), Patrick Dixon (NSW/AIS), Samuel Gallaway (NSW/AIS), Brendan Hamill (NSW/AIS), Robert Kolak (NSW/AIS), Aaron Lennox (NSW/AIS), Jared Lum (NSW/AIS), John Martinoski (NSW/AIS), Aaron Peterson (NSW/AIS), Daniel Petkovski (NSW/AIS), Nikola Stanojevic (NSW/AIS), Lawrence Thomas (NSW/AIS), Marc Warren (NSW/AIS), Curtis Good (VIC/AIS), Ersin Kaya (VIC/AIS), Damir Lokvancic (VIC/AIS), Eli Babalj (WA/AIS), Scott Mellish (WA/AIS), Trent Sainsbury (WA/AIS)