Queensland’s own Mitch Cooper has been selected by Qantas Joeys Head Coach Jan Versleijen as a member of the 21-player squad that will head to the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico at the end of the month.

Cooper has been a part of the Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) football program for three years and currently plays in their Hyundai Queensland State League team as well as playing for Gold Coast United in the National Youth League.

QAS Coach Darren Davies heaped praise on the Sunshine Coast youngster and sees Cooper’s World Cup selection as a launching pad for a long career for the midfielder.

“Ultimately our aim for the QAS program is to provide these boys with the skills and knowledge both on and off the pitch to take them to the highest level, so obviously I am thrilled to see one of the boys get to compete at a World Cup.

“Well done to Mitch and his family for all the hard work they have put in to get to this point and I hope that he enjoys what a World Cup has to offer and is able to add to his football knowledge and life experiences which I have no doubt he will do under (Coach) Jan Versleijen”.

Fifteen members of the squad are current scholars at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), with Nicholas Ansell from Melbourne Victory, Luke Remington from the NNSW Institute of Sport and Daniel Sadaka from the Sutherland Sharks who will attend the World Cup with Cooper.

Western Australians Tom King and Dylan Tombides are the only two players who are currently based overseas with powerhouse English clubs Liverpool FC and West Ham United respectively.

Versleijen believes he has chosen the best possible squad to give the Qantas Joeys the best possible chance of having a successful campaign.

“This has been the longest selection process of any youth national team that I have been involved in,” said Versleijen

“The process began some three years when the age groups were lowered for the AIS football program and the players began being identified two years ago.

“This is the first time that a predominately AIS-based squad will be going to a FIFA World Cup.

“But we didn’t close our eyes to players outside the program either.  We scouted eligible players from around the world and brought many of them to Canberra to see if they could strengthen the quality of the squad.

“From here, we have the best 21 players who can make the best team on the field.

“The major benefit of having the majority of players based at the AIS and playing in the National Youth League is that the players are very familiar with the style of play and also their team-mates.

“From here, we will now go to Pachuca (Mexico) to train at altitude to acclimatise to the conditions we will face in the tournament.

“To assist our preparations we have also received fantastic advice from the AIS scientists as well as Dr Raymond Verheijen and Ken Stead in regard to preparing our players for playing at altitude.

“With all this preparation in effect, we will be focussing on getting a positive result in our early matches to progress in the competition,” concluded Versleijen.

The Qantas Joeys are currently in a training camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, under the supervision of Assistant coach Gary van Egmond and FFA Assistant Technical Director Alistair Edwards whilst Jan Versleijen is in Europe with the Qantas Young Socceroos.  During this camp, the Qantas Joeys have been put through their paces by the presenters and candidates of the Pro-Diploma Coaching course including the well respected Football Conditioning expert, Dr Raymond Verheijen and former National Youth Coach and current Hyundai A-League championship winning coach Ange Postecoglou.

The Qantas Joeys will assemble in Sydney on Tuesday to attend a farewell function and then travel to Mexico on Wednesday 8 June for a pre-tournament camp in Pachuca, where they will play friendly matches against Canada (13 June) and Uruguay (15 June). They will then move to their base camp in the city of Guadalajara, during the first phase of the tournament on the 16 June.

The Qantas Joeys have been drawn in Group F alongside Côte d'Ivoire, Brazil and Denmark for the FIFA U-17 World Cup Mexico 2011 which will be played from 18 June to 10 July.

The Qantas Joeys will play their first match of the tournament against Côte d'Ivoire on Monday 20 June, and then face Brazil on Thursday 23 June before their final group match against Denmark on Sunday 26 June.

The Qantas Joeys will be playing Côte d'Ivoire and Brazil in Guadalajara on an artificial grass field with the final group match against Denmark on a grass field in Queretaro.

The Pachuca training camp venue will have both artificial and grass training fields to help the Qantas Joeys adjust to their tournament conditions.

The Qantas Joeys qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup having made semi-final of the AFC U-16 Youth Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan last year.

The Qantas Joeys matches and the Semi-Finals and Final of the FIFA U-17 World Cup Mexico 2011 will be broadcast live on SBS TV.

Qantas Joeys Squad for FIFA U-17 World Cup 2011 Mexico

as at Friday 3 June 2011

FIFA U-17 World Cup Mexico 2011 – Groups (Venues)

Group A (Morelia/Monterrey): Mexico, Korea DPR, Congo, Netherlands

Group B (Monterrey/Morelia): Japan, Jamaica, France, Argentina

Group C (Pachuca/Torreon): Uruguay, Canada, Rwanda, England

Group D (Torreon/Pachuca): USA, Czech Republic, Uzbekistan, New Zealand

Group E (Queretaro/Guadalajara):, Burkina Faso, Panama, Germany, Ecuador

Group F (Guadalajara/ Queretaro): Australia, Côte d'Ivoire, Brazil, Denmark