Caletti Set For Young Roar Debut
Words: Aaron Cooper
Image: Getty Images
Australian Under 17 captain Joe Caletti will make his debut for Brisbane Roar Youth against FNQ Heat in Cairns today.
Caletti signed with Roar in January to much fanfare after leading the Joeys at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Argentina late last year.
The 17-year-old midfielder said he was eagerly anticipating his first competitive match for Josh McCloughan’s Young Roar side, who could potentially move into the top four with a win over the league-leading Heat.
“I’m really excited to finally play a competitive game and see how I’ve improved after training with the first team at higher intensity,” Caletti said.
Caletti has trained with Roar’s Hyundai A-League squad including Socceroos Matt McKay and Tommy Oar and two-time Johnny Warren Medallist Thomas Broich.
“Most of what I’ve learnt is just the different movements to get yourself out of different situations,” Caletti said.
“I’ve used different techniques to improve my passing range as well. The coaching staff and players have helped with that a lot.”
Young Roar coach Josh McCloughan said he is looking forward to tracking Calleti’s development, but also was eager not too put too much pressure on the youngster.
“Joe has great credentials but he’ll be the first to admit that he has to start all over again and prove himself in this environment,” McCloughan explained.
“As a club we’re looking forward to seeing how he progresses.”
McCloughan said his side was eager to build on last week’s much improved turn against Western Pride, which marked Young Roar’s first clean sheet of the campaign.
“I think that (the victory over Pride) was a good step in the right direction and we’re starting to string together some good training sessions on the back of it,” McCloughan said.
“We showed some good signs but there’s plenty of room for improvement and we’re looking to testing ourselves against the form team in the league,” he concluded.
In other squad news, Young Roar will once again be without Adam Sawyer who continues to battle an ankle injury.
PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues 2016 – Round 7
FNQ FC Heat v Brisbane Roar FC Youth
Saturday, April 16
Barlow Park, Cairns
Kick-off at 3:00PM
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