Qantas Young Socceroos remain in the hunt for final berth
A Qantas Young Socceroos remain in the hunt for a place in the AFF U-19 Championship in Thailand, after a scoreless draw with Korea Republic.
A Qantas Young Socceroos remain in the hunt for a place in the AFF U-19 Championship in Thailand, after a scoreless draw with Korea Republic.
The point saw both sides stay top of the four-team tournament, with Australia to play host Thailand in the final game, who beat China 3-0 in the other match.
A confident Korean side took the game to Australia in the first half, with Central Coast Mariners keeper Andrew Redmayne keeping the young Aussie side in the match with several first half saves.
In the 13th Redmayne spread himself to block a shot from Choi young-dong, while near the end of the first half he again saved well to deny Jung-han.
Australia upped their tempo in the second half and a half chance came to Newcastle Jets striker Jason Naidovski, but he was closed down quickly after taking too long on the ball.
Australia had several chances late in the match, but was unable to trouble the Korean keeper.
Qantas Young Socceroos Head Coach Jan Versleijen was pleased with his team's performance.
"You can't fault the work ethic of the players under testing conditions tonight," he said.
"They all worked hard and we had our chances late in the match. Our second half showed much improvement from the first, which I am pleased about.
"The Korea Republic is one of the stronger teams in the tournament and a match like this will help our preparations for the AFC Championships in Saudi Arabia," concluded Versleijen.
The Qantas Young Socceroos will now play Thailand for a place in the final, with a draw good enough to secure its passage through.
Match Details
Qantas Young Socceroos, 0 - Korea Republic, 0
Tuesday 7 October 2008 Royal Thai Army Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand
Qantas Young Socceroos line up: Andrew Redmayne (gk), Sebastian Ryall, Sam Munro, Matthew Jurman, Tahj Minniecon, James Holland, Mitch Nichols (James Brown 67-), Nikolas Tsattalios, Jason Naidovski, Dane Milovanovic (Scott Balderson 46-), Tom Oar (Nathan Elasi 35-).
Subs Not Used: Alex Cisak, Peter Cvetanovski, Milos Lujic, Ryan McGowan, Andreas Govas, Luke De Vere, Andreas Govas, Milos Lujic
Yellow Cards: Sam Munro 21-, Jason Naidovski 57-, Sebastian Ryall 90-.
Red Cards: Nil
Qantas Young Socceroos Squad List ASEAN Football Federation U-19 Championships 5 - 11 October 2008
Scott Balderson (Stevenage Borough, UK), James Brown (AIS), Alex Cisak (gk) (Leicester City, UK), Peter Cvetanovski (Borussia Monchenlabach, Germany), Luke De Vere (Queensland Roar), Nathan Elasi (Melbourne Victory), Andreas Govas (Apollon Kalamarias, Greece), James Holland (Newcastle Jets), Matthew Jurman (Sydney FC), Milos Lujic (Melbourne Victory), Ryan McGowan (Hearts FC, Scotland), Tahj Minniecon (Queensland Roar), Dane Milovanovic (AIS), Sam Munro (Sydney FC), Jason Naidovski (Newcastle Jets), Mitchell Nichols (Queensland Roar), Thomas Oar (Queensland Roar), Andrew Redmayne (gk) (Central Coast Mariners), Sebastian Ryall (Melbourne Victory) and Nikolas Tsattalios (Sydney FC).