Having already been capped for club and country, many could be forgiven for thinking Sydney FC youngster Matt Jurman is not counting-down to the start of the Youth League.
Having already achieved the rare feat of being capped for both club and country before his nineteenth birthday, many could be forgiven for thinking that Sydney FC youngster Matt Jurman is not counting down the days to the start of the National Youth League.
However, with a little over a week before Sydney begins its Youth League campaign, the Young Socceroo admits he can-t wait for kick-off in the highly-anticipated competition.
“It’s great to have the youth league here,” said the young centre back. “I’m sure you will see a lot of good players coming through in the next couple of years or so.”
Under the guidance of former AIS head football coach Steve O’Connor, the squad has stepped up its build-up over the past month, working on its combinations ahead of its opening clash with the Queensland Roar.
“It’s hard at first, but once you start training together you start to get use to each other,” said Jurman. “I think that we should be ready for the start of the youth league next week.”
With many of the players familiar with each other from their time in the NSW Premier League, the 18-year-old admits the young Sydney squad is confident it will be able to emulate the first team’s inaugural season success.
“With the players that we’ve got I think we will go close to winning it,” said Jurman.
This positive attitude, combined with plenty of ability has helped the former Sydney Olympic starter retain a spot on the Sky Blues-bench for the last 2 rounds of the Hyundai A-League competition.
“It is a great experience for me,” he said. “(I remember) watching these guys on TV when I was younger, so it’s great to play with them now.”
The Sydney FC youth team has the bye in the opening round, and will have to hold out until next week to open its campaign, as the curtain-raiser to the senior side-s clash with Queensland.
