Australia NewsYoung Roos Book Their Spot |
THE Qantas Young Socceroos have secured their place at next year's AFC Under 19 Championship after they fought out a 0-0 with host nation Indonesia at the qualification tournament in Bandung.
Going into the match, the Young Socceroos knew that a draw or a win would give them enough points to take one of the two qualification places on offer to the AFC U-19 Championship.
Young Socceroos head coach Jan Versleijen also used the match as an opportunity to rotate his squad and give starts to some players who had not started in the tournament previously.
A vocal, local crowd of around 5,000 witnessed a very close game with both teams creating plenty chances, but both unable to find the back of the net.
In a fast paced, quality game of football, the Young Socceroos hit the crossbar on a number of occasions and at the other end of the field, goalkeeper Mark Birighitti was forced to make a number of crucial saves to ensure his clean sheet.
Young Socceroos Head Coach Jan Versleijen was very pleased that his team had achieved their goal of qualification and the manner in which they did it.
"Our aim coming here was to qualify for the AFC U-19 Championship and we have now achieved that aim. I am proud of all the team and the fantastic job they have done here in qualifying," he said.
"This was the toughest game so far in the tournament and probably the highest quality game of the tournament.
"The Indonesian team were well organised, disciplined and played some very good football.
"Both teams had their chances and the draw is indicative of the game it was.
"It was a great preparation for the final game v Japan. We now want to finish the tournament well against Japan."
In the other matches, Japan also confirmed their qualification to the AFC U-19 Championship 2010 after defeating Singapore 2-0 whilst Hong Kong edged out Chinese Taipei 3-2. The Young Socceroos will face Japan in their final match of the tournament on Tuesday evening.
The Young Socceroos and Japan have now qualified for the AFC U-19 Championship 2010 which will be held from 1-16 November. The host nation for the tournament will be determined later this month by the AFC Competitions Committee who are considering hosting bids from China, Thailand and Indonesia.
Qantas Young Socceroos line-up: Mark Birighitti (gk), Jason Davidson, Rhyan Grant, James Virgili (Tom Oar 53'), Ben Kantarovski (c), Daniel Bowles, Karem Bulut, Josh McVey (Kofi Danning 59'), Brendan Hamill, Chris Bush, Jared Lum (Steve Lustica 59')
Substitutes Not Used: Petar Franjic, Robbie Kolak (gk), Lawrence Thomas (gk), Sam Gallagher, Dylan McGowan, Nikola Stanojevic, Kliment Taseski, Dimitrios Petratos), Eli Babalj.
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