Towering Olyroos defender Harry Souttar, 20, has already been part of one senior squad and is likely to be named on Friday for next month’s FIFA World Cup qualifier against Kuwait.
And 16-year-old box-to-box midfielder Akiel Raffie - the cousin of All Blacks star Sonny Bill Williams - cut his teeth with the Joeys in a Canberra camp last month and is chasing a spot on the plane to Brazil for November’s FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Both players, says Mangan, are bristling with promise and desire to soar at international level for the green and gold.
“I did my coaching badges with Tim Cahill this (northern) summer and he told me how proud he was to play for Australia at four World Cups and what it means for any Australians to represent their country,” Mangan said.
“It’s a massive thing and I’m sure both Harry and Akiel will be the same as they try to build their own international futures.”
The Cod Army are just a point off the League One top spot five games into the season under colourful and controversial coach Joey Barton.
Mangan, 32, was a key member of the squad that won promotion to the EFL in 2012 to put Fleetwood on the map for something other than being a fishing port.
While the club won’t welcome any disruptions to their promotion hopes, Mangan acknowledged the enormity of international football.
“You don’t want to lose a player like Harry for any amount of time but to represent your country is obviously a massive honour,” he added.
“I think Australia have found a really great player in Harry and he will go on to do great things.”
The 198cm stopper, who was born in Scotland but has an Australian mother, is on a season-long loan from Championship side Stoke City, and has scored once in five successive starts.
“He’s been brilliant for us ... we were over the moon to get him back and very surprised because we thought maybe he would get a go at Stoke this season,” Mangan said.
“But for us to get him back is fantastic and it goes to show the sort of environment we’ve created at Fleetwood.
“The fact that somebody like Harry Souttar wanted to come back again (for a second loan spell), when he also had other offers, was great for us.
“Everyone talks about his size and how strong in the air he is - but he’s fantastic with his feet as well.
“He also reads the game really well and is a great talker and communicator.
“He has everything covered to go up the leagues in his career and we also have big ambitions to progress.
“Hopefully Harry will be here to help us achieve some of those ambitions.”
Mangan also has huge expectations of Sydney-raised Raffie, who is entering his first year as a full-time professional, and came close to a first-team debut at the back end of last season in his third year at the club.
“He’s very good,” Mangan said. “When you come in full-time it’s a massive shock to the system for any kid and it’s that period of adjustment he’s going through right how.
“He’ll be flying when he finds his feet and hopefully we’ll get him over with the first-team.
“We had a couple of injuries towards the end of last season and the manager was looking at giving him a debut because he loves to promote youth.
“There was a conversation about playing Akiel but unfortunately it didn’t happen but if he keeps working hard I’m sure his time will come.”
Mangan sees Raffie as a rare breed in a football landscape awash with specialists rather than all-rounders.
“He’s both powerful and technical which is surprising because you don’t normally get the two together,” he said.
“He can run all day and has great ability and good vision.
“He’s a box-to-box midfielder which you don’t see too many of at the moment.
“These days you normally see defensive midfielders or a 10 or an eight - not so much the box-to-box variety of a player.
“He’s only 16 and we don’t want to put too much pressure on him.
“We’re a club on the up and hopefully Akiel will be here with us for a long time to come.”
