Qantas Young Socceroos defeat USA
The Qantas Young Socceroos have produced a dramatic performance to defeat the USA 3-1 in their final match of the Copa Ciudad de Rosario tournament in Argentina.
The Qantas Young Socceroos have produced a dramatic performance to defeat the USA 3-1 in their final match of the Copa Ciudad de Rosario tournament in Argentina.
After being a goal down from just before the half hour mark, the Qantas Young Socceroos scored three goals in the last six minutes of the match to secure a morale boosting victory and third place in the competition.
The USA took the lead in the 28th minute when Kofi Danning was dispossessed at the edge of the box and the USA striker pounced to shoot past Qantas Young Socceroo goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne giving him no chance of saving.
Danning had a chance to make amends for his error ten minutes later, only to see his shot hit the post, rebound in to play and then get cleared.
The Qantas Socceroos continued to create opportunities in the second half and Tahj Minniecon came close to equalising in the 61st minute when his shot from an acute angle hit the post.
The equaliser finally came for the Qantas Young Socceroos in the 87th minute when Chris Payne set up Jason Naidovski with a through ball. Naidovski calmly placed his shot to the keeper-s left and hit the back of the net.
The Qantas Young Socceroos took the lead in the 90th minute after a cross from Rocco Visconte, into a heavily congested penalty box, found Isaka Cernak. Cernak attacked the incoming ball and was able to push his shot over the line into the goal.
Aaron Mooy sealed the result deep into additional time following a counter-attack from a USA corner. Mooy collected the ball deep in defence and, with Chris Payne in support, took off for towards the USA goal with defenders in hot pursuit. Aaron found himself one-on-one with the USA keeper and made no mistake with his shot past the scrambling keeper.
Speaking after the match, Qantas Young Socceroos Head Coach Jan Versleijen was extremely happy with his team-s come from behind win.
“It was a great effort. I believed we deserved a draw and to get 3 goals in the last 6 or 7 minutes of the game was amazing," said Versleijen.
“The win has come at a great time in the tour as we have played some tough games and this will give the group a lot of confidence.
“It was a great reward for the players and a good way to finish the tournament," concluded Versleijen.
In the last game of the tournament CA Tiro Federal defeated Uruguay 2-1 to claim the tournament championship.
The Qantas Young Socceroos have scheduled another friendly match on their way home against the Youth Team of local club Argentinos Juniors on Friday morning (10.30am local, 11:30pm AEST) in Buenos Aires and will return to Australia on Sunday.
The Argentinean tour is the final warm-up for the Qantas Young Socceroos before the FIFA U-20 World Cup which will be held in Egypt from 24 September to 16 October. Australia has drawn Brazil, Costa Rica and the Czech Republic in the group stage.
Match Details
USA 1 Australia 3 (Jason Naidovski 87-, Isaka Cernak 90-, Aaron Mooy Payne 93+-)
Rosario, Argentina
Qantas Young Socceroos Line-up: Andrew REDMAYNE (gk), Peter CVETANOVSKI, Luke DEVERE (c), Matthew JURMAN, Sam MUNRO, Tahj MINNIECON (Isaka CERNAK 65-), Aaron MOOY, Jason HOFFMAN (Jason NAIDOVSKI 75-), Kofi DANNING (Rocco VISCONTE 65-), Nathan ELASI (Chris PAYNE 65-), Nikola STANOJEVIC.
Substitutes Not Used: Alex CISAK (gk), Antony GOLEC, Osama MALIK, Nik TSATTALIOS.
Yellow Cards: Matt Jurman 34-, Sam Munro 80-. Aaron Mooy 92-.
Red Cards: nil