Newcastle defender Mark Natta is a step closer to living his Olympic dream after being named in the Australian squad for the under-23 Asian Cup in Qatar.
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The 23-player Olyroos squad will assemble in Doha from Monday to begin preparations for the tournament - which doubles as AFC qualifiers for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Australia can guarantee their place at the Games by finishing in the top three in Qatar.
The Olyroos have been drawn in Group A alongside Jordan (15 April), Indonesia (18 April) and Qatar (21 April).
Natta has developed into a mainstay since joining Newcastle from Western Sydney, stringing together 43 appearances over the past two seasons.
While the 21-year-old was retained in Tony Vidmar's squad, there was no place for his Jets teammate Lucas Mauragis.
Mauragis has featured in previous Olyroos squads, but Vidmar has preferred Sydney FC's Jordan Courtney-Perkins and Central Coast's Jacob Farrell as his left backs on this occasion.
OLYROOS SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Patrick Beach, Cameron Cook, Steven Hall
Defenders: Jordan Courtney-Perkins, Jacob Farrell, Jake Girdwood-Reich, Jacob Italiano, Mark Natta, Alexandar Popovic, Callum Talbot
Midfielders: Louis D'Arrigo, Jake Hollman, Adrian Segecic, Ryan Teague, Jordi Valadon, Rhys Youlley
Forwards: Lachlan Brook, Alou Kuol, Garang Kuol, Nicolas Milanovic, Mohamed Toure, Nishan Velupillay.
