A week-long training camp in Malaysia and a solid hit-out against Korea Republic has Thomas Deng convinced Australia is ready to go for the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship in Thailand.
Graham Arnold’s squad opens its campaign on Wednesday night against Iraq at Thammasat Stadium in Pathum Thani.
“We are very excited to be here. We have had a few months now to prepare and I remember the first day that we got together in Canberra, when Arnie (Graham Arnold) and Rene (Meulensteen) got us together and we spoke about where we wanted to get to,” Deng told socceroos.com.au.
“We have come a long way and we are very happy to start the tournament and we can’t wait to play the first game against Iraq.
“It was a good week in Malaysia and it was great to get the game against South Korea. It was a good team performance, though there was a lot that we can improve on.”
