28 February 2001, Oceania Final Qualifer Leg 1:
Aussie Fair Poorly
The Young Socceroos let a 1-0 lead slip to concede two goals in the first leg of
their World Youth Cup playoff against New Zealand last night. Australia scored in
the first half with a nice chip through the middle that was expertly controlled first time
and then chipped over the advancing keeper. But NZ responded by scrambling two goals
in the 76th and 85th minute through a free kick and corner respectively to take the box
seat in the playoff. Playing away, first, Australia were hot favourites to win the
match after romping through their group against Samoa, PNG, Tonga, Vanuatu and the Cook
Islands. NZ won all their matches, but did face tougher opposition with Tahiti,
Solomon Islands and Fiji in their group. This may have given them better match
conditioning and an edge for this cut-throat match. Australia now must do it the
hard way and overcome the traditional home-leg hoodoo in the return match in Coffs Harbour
on Sunday if they want to go to Argentina for the Cup Finals in June.
4 March 2001, Oceania Final Qualifer Leg
2: Young Socceroos Do It - The Hard Way.
Needing to win after losing 2-1 in NZ on Wednesday, Australia had to overcome a
remarkable challenge to win the home tie and final match of the World Youth Cup
qualifying playoff by scoring three unanswered goals after NZ set the cat amongst the
pigeons by stealing a 17th minute lead with barely their only shot of the first half.
For all Australia's dominance, it took a dozen shots on goal and 20 frustrating
minutes later to equalise via an easy far-post header off a corner.
A similar pattern continued in the second half as it got grimmer and grimmer as the Kiwis desperately held on. But with 10 minutes left, captain Milicevic slipped the ball through after a goal mouth scramble to gain the vital goal that cancelled out NZ's 2-1 win last Wednesday. Despite continued pressure on the packed Kiwi defence, the game went into extra time where the winner came seven minutes in after Scott MacDonald scored the most golden of golden goals. The 4-3 aggregate win was no doubt a relief for all concerned and easily the toughest win by an Australian team in a deciding match since the senior team's epic victory against Canada during the 1994 World Cup qualifiers. Australia travels to Argentina in June for the Cup finals.
18 June 2001, Coloso Stadium, Rosario, Argentina:
Australia Get Revenge On Japan
After losing to Japan in the East Asia Games Final a few weeks back, Australia rebouded to
defeat a Japanese team 2-0 that went into the match confident of winning. Japan
dominated the first half, but the Australian defence comfortably held sway to see the team
go into the break at 0-0. After 59 minutes, it turned Australia's way when a deflected
goal off the boot of Shroj from 20 metres out - eventually credited as a Japanese own goal
- lobbed over the goal keeper and into the net. Australia continued to create
chances and doubled their lead when Owens slotted in after Kennedy headed a ball down to
him that was preceded by a series of quick passes across the field that cut the Japanese
defence to pieces. Japan had a late flurry to score, but were easily repelled.
With the Czech Republic and Angola drawing their opening game, it means one more win will
see Australia through to the next phase. Even a draw will most likely be enough give
that the four best third-placed teams also go through. However, the team's progress
beyond that suffered a severe setback when captain Ljubo Milicevic suffered a severe knee
innjury late in the match when a defender fell across him. His strained medial
ligaments will rule him out for the remainder of the tournament.
Group D: Round 1: Australia 2 (Henada og 59', Owens
69') - Japan 0, Crowd 5000; Czech Republic 0 - Angola 0
Australia: Michael Turnbull (gk); Mark Byrnes, Ljubo Milicevic (capt) (Patrick
Kisnorbo 86'), Adrian Madaschi, Ahmad Elrich, Wayne Srhoj, Greg Owens (Luke Wilkshire
69'), Gareth Edds, Daniel Vasilevski, Scott McDonald (Nick Carle 82'), Joshua Kennedy
Table:
Australia 3 (gd +2)
Czech Republic 1 (gd 0)
Angola 1 (gd 0)
Japan 0 (gd -2)
21 June 2001, Club Atletico Newell's Old Boys, Rosario:
Czechs Show Their Class
Australia will have to beat Angola in its final group game
after it was out-classed by the Czech Republic, 3-0. It was a blow made even worse
as it comes on the back of the team losing its captain for the tournament due to a knee
injury. A draw maybe enough, if Japan beat the Czechs in their final group game, or
even as a best third placed qualifier. Wayne Shroj took over the captaincy -
suprise given Joshuea Kennedy's impressive leadership of the Joeys in 1999 - but his team
had little impact against a team that took control at the start and scored two goals in
three minutes at after 27 minutes when Musil found the back of the net after beating
Australian keeper Michael Turnbull with a shot from 22 metres out, and when Jun broke
clear of the defence to knock his shot over the advancing Turnbull. The onslaught
continued into the second half, when the Czechs recorded their third goal of the game
after Macek hit his free kick over the wall, and into the top right hand corner of the
net, two minutes into the half. The Australians had a few late chances, but largely
made little impact against the Czechs. Hopefully, the team simply had an off day
after trying to come to terms with the loss of their skipper, otherwise their performance
suggests their chances of progressing far into the tournament seem slim. Here is
what coach Postecoglou had to say:
"It was a very disappointing result and game today, we didn't play well, and considering we had played so well in our opening encounter against Japan, today's effort was a huge let down," said coach Ange Postecoglou after the game. We fell down all over the park - we lost our composure, we struggled to keep possession, and I felt that the boys started nervously and didn't recover. It was a day where we just couldn't find our feet, and that's something we need to work on in the next couple of days, we'll be going back to basics at training, looking to re-do things we did so successfully in the first game, and hopefully getting everyone to understand that they can't afford to lose the composure.
"There's no doubt that losing Ljubo (Milicevic) left a big hole in the team, he's the kind of guy who could have steadied the ship, and that was his role, both in the backline and as captain, yes, we did miss him on the park, but he's not available to us anymore, and we can't use that as an excuse," he continued. I really feel that this is a pretty even group, there isn't a lot between the teams, and if one team has an off day, like we did today, then that's how you get that kind of scoreline.
"We've got a fair bit of work to do, starting from tomorrow, we'll concentrate on keeping possession, and also sit the boys down and try to get them to relax - I don't know if the occasion got to them today, but if we can recreate the atmosphere of the first game, then they should have nothing to worry about." Postecoglou concluded.
Group D
Australia 0 - Czech Republic 3 (Petr Musil 27', Tomas Jun 30', Michal Macek 47'), Crowd
1200; Angola 2 Japan 1
Australia: Michael Turnbull (gk); Mark Byrnes, Adrian Madaschi, Patrick Kisnorbo,
Ahmad Elrich, Wayne Srhoj (captain), Greg Owens (Kevo Gulesserian 72’), Gareth Edds
(Luke Wilkshire 50’), Lucas Pantelis (Daniel Vasilevski 63’), Scott McDonald,
Joshua Kennedy.
Table:
Czech Republic 4 (gd +3)
Angola 4 (gd +1)
Australia 3 (gd -1)
Japan 0 (gd -3)
24 June 2001, Club Atletica Newell's Old Boys,
Rosario: Australian Fighting Character Gets Them Through
As Japan destroyed the Czech Republic with three late goals to
win 3-0, Australia were struggling with a man and one goal down in their final group match
against Angola. Coach Postecoglou made 5 changes to the team after the Czech
debacle, but it bore little reward when Angola went ahead after 12 minutes through a silly
Australian error to leave Australia on the precipice of elimination. From then on,
Australia controlled the game but could break through an Angolan defence content to sit
back and absorb. Owens was brought on at half time, with another striker in Scott
McDonald 10 minutes later. However, it all went wrong when he was red-carded on 74
minutes, seemingly end the team's chances. However, after contesting a free-kick in
the box, substitute player Gulesserian was fouled giving Australia a tournament saving
penalty. Owens stepped up and scored to put Australia through to the next phase.
However, for finishing third in the group, they get the reward of facing Group B
winners Brazil. Good luck.
Australia 1 (Greg Owens pen 82') - Angola 1 (Mantorras
12'), Crowd 3500; Japan 3 - Czech Republic 0
Australia: Jess Vanstrattan (gk); Mark Byrnes, Patrick Kisnorbo, Adrian Madaschi,
Ahmad Elrich, Wayne Srhoj (captain), Louis Brain (Greg Owens 46'), Gareth Edds, Daniel
Vasilevski, Nick Carle (Kevo Gulesserian 66'), Joshua Kennedy (Scott McDonald 54')
Final Table - Group D
Angola 5 (gd +1)
Czech Republic 4 (gd 0)
Australia 4 (gd -1)
Japan 3 (gd 0)
27 June 2001, Chateau Carreras, Cordoba,: Brazil
Sweep Past Australia
Australia were eliminated from the World Youth Cup by a classy
Brazil that scored 3 second half goals in 21 minutes to break open the game after they
lead 1-0 at half time. Australia competed well until the break, but had
limited goal scoring chances. The best came after 32 minutes when Joshua Kennedy, after a
series of corners, shot from 10 metres out, but went wide. In contrast, Brazil took
their main chance when Adriano scored after 27 minutes. Here is what coach
Postecoglou said after the game:
"We did well in the first half, but they were just too strong for us in the second," said coach Ange Postecoglou after the match. We were playing into a strong wind in the first half and were finding it difficult to play out, but the boys defended really well, I was very pleased with our effort in the first half. Brazil scored a great goal just before the thirty minute mark, but we pretty much dominated the rest of the half, and created two or three good opportunities, but we needed to take one of them.
"We went into the half-time break confident that we could continue to match it with them, we'd have the wind behind us and could put them under pressure, but it just didn't happen. "Their #9, Adriano, was too strong, and once they scored the second goal, we were basically chasing the game, and while we continued to go forward in trying to score, they opened us up on the counter attack," he continued.
"The most pleasing aspect for me was the way we kept our composure in the first half, we were frustrating them by keeping the ball, and as I said earlier, our first half was definitely our better half. "Wayne Srhoj was outstanding for the whole game, he gave away virtually no possession, and Adrian Madaschi was very strong at the back, and really, everyone worked very hard, but at the end of the day, they were the better team, and we have to accept that. Brazil is one of the tournament favourites, and I feel that they will go close to winning this tournament, but in saying that, they did struggle at times when we put them under pressure, so they may come undone against a stronger side." Postecoglou concluded.
Angie's first test in a World Cup went as well as can be expected. While the team had the talent to go further, it would not have been that much further. He even admitted as much in an earlier interview when he felt the team was good enough to reach the quarter-finals. From there, luck with opponents and match pan-outs would have been needed. The loss of captain Milicevic no doubt hurt, but not to the tune of 4 goals. This crop of talent never had that precocious big name player like a Viduka, Kewell or Emerton, nor the high enough concentration of above average quality players, like say, the 1991 team did. Australia has missed its chance to go far in this tournament for the time being when it blew it best chances, the last two tournaments, Nigeria in 1999 and Malaysia in '97. The highly talented 97 squad was wrecked by injury to key players like Kewell, which hurt preparation, resulting in some lacklustre performances, especially in their eighth-final game against Japan when they were eliminated 1-0. However, the team did show its potential with that memorable 4-3 win over Argentina in the group stage. As for 1999, the lack of preparation de-railed that team's hopes, despite the fact it had a mature Emerton - who was also an injury victim in Malaysia - and Sterjovski, Laybutt and Colosimo present. In 2001, there was no excuse. The team was not quite good enough. But as we all know, at this level, you can be world champions one minute, and paupers the next. Just ask defending champion Spain, who did not even qualify, and fellow finalist Japan, who was eliminated in the first round.
Australia 0 - Brazil 4 (Adriano 27' 66', Kaka 53',
Eduardo 74'), Crowd 7,895
Australia: Jess Vanstrattan (gk); Mark Byrnes, Adrian Madaschi, Patrick
Kisnorbo (Jon McKain 82'), Ahmad Elrich, Wayne Srhoj (captain), Luke Wilkshire, Gareth
Edds, Daniel Vasilevski, Nick Carle (Kevo Gulesserian 61'), Joshua Kennedy (Greg Owens
58').
Note that Australia played two warm-up games preceding the tournament: vs Canada, 3-0; vs Egypt, 1-1 (4-5 penalties).
Teams Competing - Final Group Standing
Group A: Argentina, Egypt, Finland*, Jamaica*
Group B: Brazil, Germany, Iraq*, Canada*
Group C: Ukraine, USA, China, Chile*
Group D: Angola, Czech Republic, Australia, Japan*
Group E: Costa Rica, Ecuador, Netherlands, Ethiopia*
Group F: Ghana, France, Paraguay, Iran*
* Denotes Teams Eliminated After Round Robin
Round of 16
USA vs Egypt 0-2 (0-0), Argentina vs China 2-1 (1-0), France vs Germany 3-2 (2-1), Brazil
vs Australia 4-0 (1-0), Ukraine vs Poland 1-2 (0-2), Angola vs Netherlands 0-2 (0-0)
Costa Rica vs Czech Rep. 1-2 (1-1), Ghana vs Ecuador 1-0 (1-0)
Quarter Finals
Argentina vs France 3-1 (2-1), Ghana vs Brazil 2-1 (1-1, 0-1), Czech Rep. vs
Paraguay 0-1 (0-1), Netherlands vs Egypt 1-2 (1-0)
Semi Finals
Egypt vs Ghana 0-2 (0-0), Argentina vs Paraguay 5-0 (3-0)
Third Place
Paraguay vs Egypt 0-1 (0-0)
Final
Argentina vs Ghana 3-0 (2-0)
Argentina totally dominated the tournament to win their fourth WYC and their third from the last four tournaments. Their lead striker, Saviola, set a WYC record of 11 goals for the tournament. Egypt and Paraguay performed exceedingly well, but both still suffered hidings from the eventual champions along the way. Egypt lost 7-1 to Argentina in the group stage, so there was an obvious gap between the best and the rest. For the first time in ages, there were no penalty shootouts at a Fifa tournament, and only one game went intro extra time - that of the Ghana/Brazil quarter final. Football-wise, it seemed to be a high quality and entertaining tournament. It is just a shame that we never got to see any of it.
* Note, there was TV coverage of the WYC, so the Socceroo Realm was unable to provide its usual analysis of the tournament.
Round Robin Matches
18 Jun 01 14:00 ROSARIO ANG - CZE 0:0
18 Jun 01 16:45 ROSARIO JPN - AUS 0:2 (0:0)
21 Jun 01 14:00 ROSARIO AUS - CZE 0:3 (0:2)
21 Jun 01 16:45 ROSARIO JPN - ANG 1:2 (0:1)
24 Jun 01 14:00 ROSARIO ANG - AUS 1:1 (1:0)
24 Jun 01 16:45 ROSARIO CZE - JPN 0:3 (0:0)
Final Table
Team GP W D L GF GA + / - Pts
Angola 3 1 2 0 3 2 1 5
Czech Republic 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4
Australia 3 1 1 1 3 4 -1 4
Japan 3 1 0 2 4 4 0 3
* Japan eliminated
Round of Sixteen
27 Jun 01 14:00 BUENOS AIRES USA - EGY 0:2 (0:0)
27 Jun 01 17:00 BUENOS AIRES ARG - CHN 2:1 (1:0)
27 Jun 01 14:00 CORDOBA FRA - GER 3:2 (2:1)
27 Jun 01 17:00 CORDOBA BRA - AUS 4:0 (1:0)
28 Jun 01 14:00 MENDOZA UKR - PAR 1:2 (0:2)
28 Jun 01 16:45 ROSARIO ANG - NED 0:2 (0:0)
28 Jun 01 14:00 SALTA CRC - CZE 1:2 (1:1)
28 Jun 01 16:45 MAR DEL PLATA GHA - ECU 1:0 (1:0)
Quarterfinals
01 Jul 01 14:00 BUENOS AIRES ARG - FRA 3:1 (2:1)
01 Jul 01 16:45 CORDOBA GHA - BRA 2:1 (0:1)
01 Jul 01 14:00 MENDOZA CZE - PAR 0:1 (0:1)
01 Jul 01 16:45 ROSARIO NED - EGY 1:2 (1:0)
Semifinals
04 Jul 01 14:00 CORDOBA EGY - GHA 0:2 (0:0)
04 Jul 01 16:45 BUENOS AIRES ARG - PAR 5:0 (0:0)
Match for 3rd place
08 Jul 01 13:00 BUENOS AIRES PAR - EGY 0:1 (0:0)
Final
08 Jul 01 15:45 BUENOS AIRES ARG - GHA 3:0 (2:0)