Dylan Pierias

Club: Melbourne City

Position: Defender

Born: 20 February 2000

A throughly modern-day right-back, Pierias made headlines in February this year when he debuted for City at the age of 16 to become the first player born this millennium to play in the A-League (last year's Australian Next Generation entry, Sebastian Pasquali, was previously the youngest player to appear in the competition).

Ufuk Talay, the Young Socceroos' coach, believes Pierias, now 17, is one of several youngsters he works with who has what it takes to succeed at the highest level.

“He's a very smart player, technically sound and can play out from the back,” Talay says. “He's very athletic and has a good engine to go up and down as a full-back.”

Further opportunities to play senior football are yet to arrive for Pierias but may not be far away if he continues to develop under the guidance of more experienced first-team squad members