Mon 15th Jan 2007

Melbourne Victory youngster Leigh Broxham has been rewarded for his impressive Hyundai A-League debut with a late call-up to the Australian Qantas under 23 training camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.

Broxham will join Victory team-mates Kristian Sarkies, Adrian Leijer and Vince Lia in the camp, which is part of the preparations in qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the first chance for new coach Robert Baan to work with the squad.

The 19-year-old, who celebrated his birthday on Saturday, said he was thrilled to be joining the Qantas under 23’s after notable performances off the bench against Perth Glory and Queensland Roar.

“It was totally unexpected,” Broxham said. “I was just sitting at home and taking it easy when Gary Moretti (the national team manager) called me and asked me to fly up to Canberra for the camp, it was quite a surprise.”

The camp began yesterday and will conclude on Wednesday. If selected, the four Victory players will fly from Canberra to Newcastle in time for the final regular season Hyundai A-League match against the Newcastle Jets this Friday (kick-off 8:00pm).

“I’m really looking forward to the opportunities at the camp and to see what it’s like working with the national Under 23 squad,” Broxham added. “I just have to keep doing what I do, which is probably what got me this opportunity. Now the coaching staff can have a look me and see what I can offer to the national team.”

Broxham filled the vacant 20th spot on the Victory roster when he was signed prior to the Round 19 match against Perth at Members Equity Stadium. The defensive midfielder trained with the squad for 12 months as the Football Team Assistant and also represented Australia at the under 17 FIFA World Cup in Peru. 

Australia’s Olympic qualifying campaign will commence with a home and away preliminary qualifying play-off against Chinese Taipei on February 7 (home) and 14 (away). The winner will progress to Group D of Round 2 qualification alongside Iran, Saudi Arabia, and either Jordan or Kyrgyzstan, with the first match against Iran scheduled to be played away on February 28.