Manly United?s Sam Gallagher a bolter for U20s World Cup squad

The news comes hot on the heels of him having signed a youth team contract with Sydney FC earlier this week. He will join Manly United team-mate Joey Gibbs in the Sydney FC youth team squad.
The strapping left-sided defender was the real ?bolter? in the Qantas Young Socceroos squad having not been apart of any camps over the previous 16 months of trials and qualifiers until he attended a two-day camp in Canberra during Manly United?s NSW TeleChoice Premier League finals campaign a fortnight ago.
He left such an impression on head coach Jan Versleijen that the Dutchman included him in the final squad of 21 players ? made up of A-League and overseas-based players. Former Manly United striker Chris Payne, who now plays for Sydney FC, missed the cut.
?It is beyond my wildest dreams that I?m going to represent my country at a World Cup,? Gallagher said today.
?That combined with signing with Sydney FC has made it a week to really remember.
?I have to get over the excitement quickly though and knuckle down to make sure I?m in the best possible shape when the squad gets together. I want to put my best foot forward for Sydney FC and take it from there.
?I really just want to thank Manly United for the opportunity this season and to get to play first grade in the (Tiger Turf) Cup final and then in the semi-finals obviously helped my cause. It was a great experience to taste senior football.?
Gallagher also spent six weeks in the UK trialing with various clubs leading into the TeleChoice premier league finals and that experience paid handsome dividends for Manly United and head coach Phil Moss as an injury crisis hit the club late in the season.
Moss said his selection was a major coup for the player and the club.
?Everyone at Manly United is over the moon for Sammy,? Moss said.
?A nicer, more grounded kid you won?t meet and he has an attitude that coaches would love to have in every single player they work with.
?Sammy had two years with ?JP? (Jean-Paul De Marigny) at NSWIS – no doubt that had a major affect on his development ? and then he came to us this year.
?Credit to our under-20s coach Richy Williams, too, because he has worked very closely with Sammy this year and prepared him well for his jump to senior football with the first team.
?From there he grabbed his opportunity with both hands and when Jan asked if we had any players worth looking at Sammy (along with Joey Gibbs and Jimmy Oates) was an obvious choice.
?Its history in the making for Manly United ? the first time we have had a player selected in a genuine Australian world cup squad. We are obviously very proud of him and wish him all the best for the tournament.?
Moss said his club was feeling for Payne at the same time following his omission from the squad.
??Payney? is in our thoughts just as much as Sammy is,? Moss said.
?We are a close knit club at Manly United ? we celebrate together and we commiserate together and we feel for Chris.
?He did well in scoring some goals on the recent tour of South America but missed the cut. As long as he works hard and keeps his focus on doing well with Sydney FC he will bounce back from this set-back.?
The Qantas Young Socceroos will be based in the northern Egyptian city of Port Said during the first phase of the tournament. The Qantas Young Socceroos have been drawn to meet 2007 runners-up, the Czech Republic, Costa Rica and Brazil in the group stage.
Versleijen said he was delighted with the final make-up of the squad.
?We have selected the best available players in this age group based on experience and recent playing history,? he said.
?I can speak on behalf of the whole team that we are very excited to compete at the highest level against the best in the world.
?For any player to represent their country at a World Cup is a special experience and they can make their career if they perform well.?
Apart from Gallagher, seven other Young Socceroos squad members were also part of the NSW set-up.
Matthew Jurman played first grade football for Sydney Olympic in 2008, Aaron Mooy was part of the Sydney Wanderers in 2007 before heading off to England, Nathan Elasi was a Marconi Stallions member in 2007, Sam Munro wore the Sydney United jersey in 2009, Ben Kantarovski was part of the NSWIS in 2007, Dean Bouzanis played for the St George Saints in 2008 and Sean Rooney was a Blacktown City Demons player in 2007.
The tournament runs from September 24-October 16.
Qantas Young Socceroos Squad
FIFA U-20 World Cup 2009 Egypt
24 September to 16 October 

Qantas Young Socceroos Schedule
27 September   v Czech Republic, 1845 local
30 September   v Costa Rica, 1600 local
3 October         v Brazil, 2130 local