Olyroos coach Tony Vidmar has no regrets about not selecting A-League prodigy Nestory Irankunda for AFC under-23 Asian Cup duty despite the Australians being on the brink of elimination from the tournament and failing to qualify for the Olympic Games.
Yet to score in two Group A games and having just one point for their efforts, the Olyroos must beat tournament hosts Qatar on Monday morning, and hope that Jordan beats Indonesia by a lesser margin than their own required victory to advance to the quarter-finals and keep their hopes alive of qualifying for this year’s Paris Olympics.
The top three teams from the under-23 Asian Cup will go to Paris, while the fourth-placed team will meet African nation Guinea in a playoff for an Olympics berth.
Adelaide United star and Bayern Munich-bound Irankunda was a shock omission from the Olyroos squad, with Vidmar detailing pre-tournament that the teenager was left out for “welfare” reasons.
However, Vidmar did subsequently inquire about attacking weapon Irankunda’s availability after winger Marco Tilio was ruled out through injury.
But Adelaide didn’t come to the party, which led to some clubs who have lost players to Olyroos duty questioning why Irankunda should be able to play in the A-League while Vidmar’s squad is in Qatar.
Without Irankunda, the Olyroos have struggled in attack despite creating good chances in their 0-0 draw with Jordan and their shock 1-0 loss to Indonesia.
However, Vidmar remains content with his decision to leave Irankunda at home despite his side’s goal-scoring woes.
“We’ve spoken about that, and the reasons, and we just focus on the group that we’ve got,” the Olyroos coach said.
“We’ve got players, (Nicolas) Milanovic and (Lachlan) Brook, we’ve got midfielders who’ve scored with us when we’ve played our international games, so it’s just those moments.
“The pressure, the expectation, it’s tournament football, it’s not a 27-game season where you can afford to have four, five or six weeks of bad form – you’ve got to perform in those moments.
“For a lot of these players, this is the first time in a tournament like this, so that also changes their mindset, that pressure expectation, and that’s something in the long-term that’s going to benefit them.”
Vidmar said he wasn’t concerned about the pressure on his own job if the Olyroos failed to qualify for the Olympics.
“I have not really thought about myself, I’m thinking about the group, the players, staff – that’s for the whole group environment (and) the bond that they have,” he said.
“That’s my main focus. I’m not thinking about myself here at all. It’s the group and wanting to get the result in the last (Group A) game.”