Amini on alert as Postecoglou opens the Socceroos door

Australia coach Ange Postecoglou has laid down the gauntlet to Australia’s next generation of stars – and young players like Randers midfielder Mustafa Amini know there's a bright future on offer with the Socceroos.

Mustafa Amini is excited by what could be for Australia's young guns Source: Getty Images

In a stirring address to his Olympic games hopefuls in the Korea Republic last week, Postecoglou made it clear the pathway to the Socceroos has no boundaries or limitations for a group of Under-23's, any one of whom could be fast-tracked into the senior squad if they can perform.

Postecoglou’s words left a lasting impression, with midfield linchpin Mustafa Amini – already on a cusp of senior call-up – revealing: “He spoke to all of us boys as a group and he told us we’re at the right age to make a name for ourselves.

“In 2016 there’s the Olympic Games, 2017 the Confederations Cup and then then 2018 the World Cup, hopefully, and he told us that if we can step up we can all be part of that."

On hand to watch the Olyroos go down 2-0 and 2-1 in back-to-back games against the Korea Republic, Postecoglou made it clear he will stay true to his philosophy of taking calculated risks.

"He said it was our time, our age group and that he’s not afraid to play the young boys, as you saw in World Cup and Asian Cup.

"We take a lot of encouragement from that, especially when you look back at when Holger Osieck was in charge where the young boys pretty much never had a chance."

Amini, who has been an instant hit in his new life in Demark with fifth-placed Randers after switching from Borussia Dortmund in the off-season, is convinced Aurelio Vidmar’s brood have the quality to not only reach Rio 2016 but make an impression at the Games.

“I am quite confident we can qualify, especially if we have our full strength squad available,” said Amini.

“We had some key players missing in Korea in Jamie Maclaren, Milos Degenek (1860 Munich), and of course Terry Antonis," he added.

“Once they are back, we will definitely benefit from that. Milos was a former Joeys captain and is very strong and technical at centre-back.

“There’s also good attacking players there like Awer Mabil, Connor Pain, Kwame Yeboah, Adam Taggart and Ryan Williams and it won't be easy to make the final 23 in our squad if we get to Brazil.

“At the end of the day, if everybody is fit and firing we will have pretty much no excuses not to make the Olympic Games.

Amini came off the bench just after half time in the weekend’s 2-1 loss against Danish league leader Midtjylland, with fellow Olyroo Mabil was also used as a substitute as the duo went head-to-head.

“It's a long flight back and the boss Colin Todd didn’t want to risk an injury, but it was good to get on at half time,” added Amini, who is expected to start against FC Helsingor in the Danish Cup on Thursday (AEDT) and will be back on international duty for the Olyroos next month for games against Qatar and Iraq in Dubai.