Already responsible for more than half of Brisbane's A-League goals this season, Jamie Maclaren and Brandon Borrello are poised to bring their potent double act to the Olyroos.
They loom as key men for Australia at the AFC U-23 Championship, which starts on Wednesday morning (AEDT) in Qatar and doubles as the Asian qualification tournament for the Rio Olympics.
The Roar duo have a ready-made attacking combination which coach Aurelio Vidmar is expected to rely on heavily as the Olyroos seek to hit the ground running in a tough group featuring the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and Jordan.
Maclaren, 22, has scored 12 goals for ladder-leading Brisbane this season while Borrello, 20, has contributed five, and their synchronicity will be vital in Australia's mission to qualify for the Olympics by finishing as one of the top three teams.
"We play together at club level and (we) come into the national team in the same sort of mindset of combinations and stuff like that," said Maclaren, who claims to be in career-best fitness.
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"There's a lot of goals in this team and hopefully we can add a few to that and send us to Rio."
Borrello is also confident the goals will flow for the Olyroos, not just courtesy of himself and Maclaren but the team's other attacking outlets.
Former World Cup Socceroo striker Adam Taggart is also in the squad, along with Lazio frontman Chris Ikonomidis, Sydney FC winger Andrew Hoole and the attack-minded Terry Antonis and Mustafa Amini, who are more than capable of contributing goals from midfield.
"It's not just coming from me or (Maclaren), it's coming from everyone across the board," Borrello said.
"We can all score goals here and we play an attacking way of football that allows us to score goals.
"I think with this team we have going into the qualification, we can go quite far."
With many of the current Olyroos having come through the national team ranks together, Maclaren said there was a strong desire to cap their journey with a Rio appearance.
"Some of us have been together for close to six years. We don't want that to end."
The Olyroos' AFC U-23 Championship campaign begins against the UAE in the early hours of Friday (AEDT).
