Australia draws with Bulgaria

AUSTRALIA has drawn 1-1 with BULGARIA, in it’s final round match of the Four Nation Soccer Tournament being played in Valparaiso, Chile. The LG Socceroos took the lead within the first minute of the game, PAUL AGOSTINO latching onto a PABLO CARDOZO cross and volleying the ball into the back of the net.

AUSTRALIA has drawn 1-1 with BULGARIA, in it-s final round match of the Four Nation Soccer Tournament being played in Valparaiso, Chile. The LG Socceroos took the lead within the first minute of the game, PAUL AGOSTINO latching onto a PABLO CARDOZO cross and volleying the ball into the back of the net.

Australia continued to dominate the match with Agostino, Cardozo and Steve Corica all having shots saved, before Bulgaria drew back the equaliser just two minutes from full time.

While obviously disappointed with the final outcome, Coach FRANK FARINA is optimistic about the continued progress of his team.

“Once again I felt we deserved to win the game, and it-s a difficult result to swallow because we dominated for so long and were ahead for so much of it, but by the same token, we didn-t score the second goal,” he said after the match.

“We went really close, with Paul Agostino having two attempts cleared off the line, as well as a number of other chances, so we had our opportunities to wrap the match up.

“It-s always dangerous at 1-0, it-s really disappointing to lose it right at the death, but in the end you have to score goals to win games.”

“Still, overall I-m very happy with the way the team has developed through this tournament, we-ve gotten better with each game and have always looked promising.

“Playing 3 games in seven days is always difficult, but I-ve had the opportunity to look at a variety of different players in different positions, I-ve felt we-ve gone from strength to strength, and we-ll continue to improve.”

LG SOCCEROOS TEAM LINE-UP Mark Schwarzer, Jason van Blerk, Stephen Laybutt, Shaun Murphy, Luke Casserly, Danny Tiatto, Craig Foster (capt), Steve Corica (Matt Horsley 74-), Brad Maloney, Pablo Cardozo (David Zdrilic 60-), Paul Agostino (Scott Chipperfield 76-)

Goals: Paul Agostino 1- Yellow Cards: Steve Corica 15-, Jason van Blerk 25-, Stephen Laybutt 57- Venue: Valparaiso, Chile

Note: Details on the Bulgarian Team unavailable

FARINA now travels to Europe for the match up against Hungary on February 23 (Feb 24 AEST) at the Ferencvaros Stadium, with the LG Socceroo Squad for that game to be announced in the next 48 hours.