Mary, 16, has already received four caps with the Australian national team following her debut off the bench against Brazil in the 2018 Tournament of Nations, and was part of Ante Milicic's 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup squad.

A regular part of the Future Matildas and Young Matildas squad on her way to senior football, the forward scored 17 goals in 10 appearances with the latter and was named in the training camp for the AFC U-19 Championship in Thailand next month.

Blayney, who represented Australia in 16 ‘A’ international matches between 2004 and 2006, has been working as an Assistant Coach with the Young Matildas over the past three years.

During the same period Blayney, who played professionally in Australia, the United States, and Sweden throughout her career, has served as a second assistant with the Matildas as part of the FFA Female Coach Mentor Programme, and fulfilled lead scout roles for Australia at both the Rio Olympics and the recent 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.

The AFC U-16 Women’s Championship and the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship – both to be staged in Thailand in late 2019 – are considered some of the strongest women’s youth competitions in the world, producing seven World Cup-winners at either U-17 or U-20 level.

But while both competitions have produced globally competitive age-group sides, their long-term value is highlighted by the central role they played as a pathway to senior World Cup football for Asian players.

Speaking after the tournament’s official draw, - where Thailand were drawn alongside DPR Korea, Australia and Vietnam on Thursday - Tulwattanangkul backed his side to be among the contenders despite not appearing in the tournament’s top four since 2004.

“I think the group is really strong,” he told the-AFC.com. “Both DPR Korea and Australia are really strong teams, and Vietnam is a game where I think we could get some points”

“I have two goals; the first is to get to the semi-finals, and the next goal is to be in the (FIFA U-20 Women’s) World Cup.”

The ceremony, held at Chonburi’s Oakwood Hotel, saw the eight qualified teams split into two groups of four ahead of the competition’s October kick-off, setting the stage for a number of intriguing fixtures.

First-time hosts Thailand have a tough challenge ahead if they are to end a 15-year semi-final drought, after they were drawn alongside DPR Korea, Australia and Southeast Asian neighbours Vietnam in a difficult Group A.

Champions in 2007, DPR Korea were runners-up in the 2017 edition of the competition, while Australia finished in fourth place to narrowly miss out on qualification for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

Meanwhile, five-time champions and current title holders Japan will meet China PR in a highly-competitive Group B, which also includes Korea Republic and Myanmar.

The ceremony, to be staged at Chonburi's Oakwood Hotel, will split the Continent's eight best U-19 women's national teams into two groups of four ahead of the Finals, which will be held in Thailand for the first time.

As hosts, Thailand qualified for the Finals automatically, while DPR Korea, China PR and defending champions Japan also bypassed the qualifying tournament after finishing as the top three teams in the 2017 edition.

Title holders Japan automatically qualified for the tournament which will be held from October 27 to November 9 in Thailand following their success in 2017 and they will be joined by the last edition’s runners-up DPR Korea and third placed China PR. Thailand qualify as the host nation.

The remaining four slots were determined after two qualifying stages with Australia sealing a place in the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship Thailand 2019 following an impressive qualifying campaign where they topped Group A and were undefeated.