Sydney FC pair Terry Antonis and Daniel Petkovski both played the full 90 minutes as the Qantas Young Socceroos opened their account at the AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers in Kuala Lumpur yesterday with a hard fought 1-0 win over Singapore.
Sydney FC pair Terry Antonis and Daniel Petkovski both played the full 90 minutes as the Qantas Young Socceroos opened their account at the AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers in Kuala Lumpur yesterday with a hard fought 1-0 win over a plucky Singapore team.
Antonis struck the crossbar in an assured performance at the MBPJ Stadium while Petkovski, a member of the Sydney FC NYL team, made his National Team debut in the victory.
It was another debutante that scored the winner when Reece Caira headed home a cross from Adam Taggart in the 50th minute.
The Qantas Young Socceroos dominated the game and made numerous chances which were either wasted or well defended by the Singapore goalkeeper, Bin Ghani, who was easily their player of the game.
The game began in very hot and humid conditions after the kickoff time was brought forward by the AFC to avoid the thunderstorms and torrential rain which has been a feature of the Kuala Lumpur weather conditions for the last week.
In the goal-less first half the Qantas Young Socceroos, with 90% possession, consistently pressured the Singapore goal; Caira, Jamie Maclaren and striker Adam Taggart all had chances to put Australia ahead but Ghani, the woodwork and profligate finishing meant that Australia went to the half-time break without a goal to show for their dominance.
It was not until the 50th minute that the Qantas Young Socceroos took their deserved lead when Taggart sent over a sweet cross from the right wing and Caira was at the back post to firmly plant the ball in the back of the net.
Despite continued pressure on Singapore a second goal proved elusive; Antonis, Ryan Edwards and Taggart all had good opportunities well saved or just missing the target and a delicate Antonis chip beat the goal keeper but clipped the cross bar. In the 78th minute Australia had a penalty claim waved away by the Thai referee when Taggart was brought down in the box.
The Qantas Young Socceroos nearly scored a second when Taggart took a clever free kick to Edwards whose shot was cleared off the line. In the 80th minute, Qantas Young Socceroos Head Coach Jan Versleijen replaced the hard-working midfielder, Jake Barker-Daish, with Paulo Retre, and Australia played out the remaining minutes still exerting pressure on the tiring Singaporeans.
An indication of their superiority was that Australia had 16 corners to none for Singapore, and the Qantas Young Socceroos goalkeeper, Nick Munro, had only one shot to save.
Jan Versleijen was content with his team’s performance, stating at the post-match press conference that this new Qantas Young Socceroos team had only been together for a short time and played their opening game in stifling hot and humid conditions
In the other Group G match played today, Indonesia defeated Macau 3- 0.In the first round on Monday, China PR and Indonesia played out a scoreless draw, as did Macau and Singapore.
The Qantas Young Socceroos will next face Macau on Friday 4 November (kick-off 11:00am local, 2.00pm AEST).
During the AFC U-19 Championship Qualifiers, each group will play one round league and the top two teams from each group will progress to the AFC U-19 Championship 2012.
The AFC U-19 Championship 2012 will serve as the qualifying event for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup which will be held in the Turkey.
Match Details
Qantas Young Socceroos 1 (Reece Caira 50′)
Singapore 0
MBPJ Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Referee: Aonruk APISIT (THAILAND)
Assistant Referees: Kangram PREECHA (THHAILAND) & Ho Wai SING (HONG KONG)
Fourth Official: Yu Ming HSUN (CHINESE TAIPEI)
Crowd: 400
Qantas Young Socceroos line up: 12.Nicholas MUNRO (gk), 2.Josh BRILLANTE, 3. Connor CHAPMAN, 4.Curtis GOOD (c), 6.Terry ANTONIS, 7.Jamie MACLAREN 8.Jake BARKER-DAISH (38.Paulo RETRE 80′), 9.Adam TAGGART, 19.Reece CAIRA, 22.Ryan EDWARDS 45.Daniel PETKOVSKI
