Qantas Young Socceroos defeat Germany 1-0

The Qantas Young Socceroos have begun their European tour with a hard fought 1-0 victory over the German U-19 National team in Kamen-Kaiserau, Germany overnight.

The Qantas Young Socceroos have begun their European tour with a hard fought 1-0 victory over the German U-19 National team in Kamen-Kaiserau, Germany overnight.

Going into the match, Qantas Young Socceroos Head Coach Jan Versleijen gave international starting debuts to Corey Gameiro, Jake Barker-Daish and Jason Geria with Bernie Ibini-Isei making his debut as a second half substitute.

The first half saw Germany dominate possession with the Qantas Young Socceroos gaining control later in the half. Both teams had early chances to open the scoring, but solid defending from each side held.

Just before half-time, Qantas Young Socceroos defender Jason Geria carried the ball through the middle of the field and played a long ball to Rhyan Grant down the ride side. Grant then delivered a great cross into the box for Kofi Danning to run onto at the far post. Danning then hit a perfectly timed volleyed past the German goalkeeper to score what was the match winning goal.

Both teams shared possession throughout the second half, but no chances from either team were of any threat and the Qantas Young Socceroos were able to hold on for a morale boosting victory.

Qantas Young Socceroos Head Coach Jan Versleijen was pleased with his squads first performance of the European tour.

“It-s always good to start a tour with a win and to beat Germany on their home soil only, a month or so after the Socceroos also beat them in Germany, is a great result.

“This was our first international match since the Asian U-19 Championships last November, so it was a great check for me to see if some of these players are good enough to play at this level.

“It was also a challenge for the team to identify the main areas we need to work on leading into Colombia. The defending was reasonable to good but we still had too many turnovers in the midfield playing teams of this level.

“The goal came from a good combination of passes and a great finish by Kofi Danning so that was pleasing,” concluded Versleijen.

The Qantas Young Socceroos will now compete in the Terborg Tournament in the Netherlands from 3-5 June. The Terborg Tournament, which is in its 32nd edition, is a Youth team competition that is played with matches in a modified format of 2 x 20 minutes halves.

The youth teams competing this year alongside the Qantas Young Socceroos include Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), FC Twente Enschede (Netherlands), De Graafschap Doetinchem (Netherlands), Boca Juniors (Argentina), Botafogo (Brazil), Cruzeiro (Brazil), Atlas Guadalajara (Mexico) and Unistar Soccer Academy (Ghana).

Match Details:

Germany U-19 National Team 0 Qantas Young Socceroos 1 (Kofi Danning 44-) Friday, 27 May 2011

Sportcentrum, Kamen-Kaiserau, Germany

Qantas Young Socceroos line up: Mark Birighitti (gk), Jason Geria (Sam Gallagher 74-), Dylan McGowan, Trent Sainsbury, Marc Warren (Jason Davidson 80-), Terry Antonis, Kofi Danning (Bernie Ibini-Isei 45-), Rhyan Grant, Mustafa Amini (Steven Lustica 74-), Jake Barker-Daish, Corey Gameiro (Matthew Fletcher 45-)

Substitutes Not Used: Matt Acton (gk), Kearyn Baccus, Petar Franjic, Brendan Hamill, Josip Konyit, George Lambadaridis, Massimo Luongo