Joeys and Young Socceroos reports

The Joeys are on track for a World Cup berth. They beat China 2-1 a couple of days ago, see reports below, and beat Turkmenistan 6-0 overnight.

One game to go. The Joeys must beat, Japan to book their place at the World Cup.

Also Young Socceroos beat Thailand 2-1. Notice the improving Thai football sides.

And Dane Milovanovic, Canberra's Young Socceroo without an A-League Youth Club. Why?
Rumour is he's off overseas...Denmark possibly.

THREE reports are below.

The Qantas Joeys have defeated Turkmenistan 6-0 in their final group match of AFC U16 Championships in Uzbekistan overnight.

Having already qualified for the quarter finals following their 2-1 victory over China PR on Tuesday night, Qantas Joeys Head Coach Martyn Crook used the match against Turkmenistan as an opportunity to rest a number of players in preparation for the knock-out stage.

The Qantas Joeys opened the scoring in the 7th minute when Ben Kantarovski finished from close range after a Trent Sainsbury flick on at the the near post from a corner.

Teddy Yabio doubled the lead just after the half hour mark with a diving header and Danai Gapre netted the Qantas Joeys third goal just before half time.

Five minutes after the break, Gapare scored his second goal of the evening with a well taken shot from inside the area. Dimitrios Petratos added to the total in the 63rd minute with a low finish and stand-in captain Marc Warren completed the scoring two minutes later with a long range shot which hit the underside of the cross bar and went into the net.

After the match, Martyn Crook was pleased with the overall performance of his team.

"It was a good game for us as the new players produced a good performance and we are definitely happy with the result at the end of the day," said Crook.

"We wanted to give some rest to the key players after securing our place at the top of the group. The new boys did well although they were playing for the first time together.

"We have a few injuries in the squad at the moment and while we used players in different positions, we also solved some problems.

"The performance in general was good although it is the first time that these players have played together. They are talented boys and we wanted to give them a chance to play international football,” concluded Crook.

In group D, Yemen defeated Japan 2-1 with a goal in the last seconds of the match. The result means that Japan will finish second in the group and will face Australia in the quarter-finals on Sunday afternoon at the MHSK Stadium (Kick-off 4pm UZT).


Match Details:
Qantas Joeys 6 (Ben Kantarovski 7', Teddy Yabio 32', Danai Gapare 43'/48', Dimitrios Petratos 63', Marc Warren 65')
Turkmenistan 0
Thursday 9 October 2008
MHSK Stadium, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Referee: Salem Mujghef (Jordan)
Assistant Referees: Awni Hassouneh (Jordan) & Fares Alshammari (Kuwait)
Fourth Official: Mukthar Al Yarimi (Yemen)
Crowd: 3,000

Qantas Joeys line-up: Aaron Lennox (gk), Ben Kantarovski, Marc Warren (C) (Petar Franjic 74'), Nathan Farrell, Trent Sainsbury, Teddy Yabio, Colin Wright, Cameron Edwards (Chahine Noujaim 57'), Mark Perrone (Chris Bush 61'), Dimitrios Petratos, Danai Gapare.

Substitutes Not Used: Zac Tubbs (gk), Robert Kolac (gk), Nikola Stanojevic, Jared Lum, Kamal Ibrahim.

Yellows Cards: Marc Warren 72'.

Red Cards: Nil


QANTAS JOEYS SQUAD
AFC U16 CHAMPIONSHIPS - UZBEKISTAN 2008
4-18 October 2008

Eli Babalj (WA), Chris Bush (ACTAS), Julius Davies (WA), Stephen Domenici (ACTAS), Cameron Edwards (WA), Petar Franjic (VIS), Nathan Farrell (SASI), Danai Gapare (ACTAS), Brendan Hamill (NSWIS), Kamal Ibrahim (VIS), Ben Kantarovski (Newcastle Jets), Robert Kolac (NSWIS), Aaron Lennox (NSWIS), Jared Lum (NSWIS), Chahine Noujaim (SASI), Mark Perrone (SASI), Dimitrios Petratos (NSWIS), Trent Sainsbury (WA), Nikola Stanojevic (NSWIS), Nicholas Tubbs (QAS), Marc Warren (NSWIS), Bailey Wright (VIS) and Teddy Yabio (VIS).


AFC U16 CHAMPIONSHIPS - UZBEKISTAN 2008
OFFCIAL MATCH SCHEDULE

Group A: BAHRAIN, I.R. IRAN, SINGAPORE, UZBEKISTAN

#DateMatchVenueKick-Off
14 Oct 2008 I.R. IRAN 2:0 BAHRAINPakhtakor Stadium20:00
24 Oct 2008 SINGAPORE 0:7 UZBEKISTANPakhtakor Stadium16:00
96 Oct 2008 BAHRAIN 3:0 SINGAPOREPakhtakor Stadium20:00
106 Oct 2008 UZBEKISTAN 1:2 I.R. IRANPakhtakor Stadium16:00
178 Oct 2008 I.R. IRAN 4:1 SINGAPOREMHSK Stadium15:00
198 Oct 2008 UZBEKISTAN 2:0 BAHRAINPakhtakor Stadium15:00


Group B: INDIA, INDONESIA, KOREA REPUBLIC, SYRIA

#DateMatchVenueKick-Off
34 Oct 2008 SYRIA 2:1 INDONESIAMHSK Stadium18:00
44 Oct 2008 KOREA REPUBLIC 5:2 INDIAMHSK Stadium14:00
116 Oct 2008 INDONESIA 0:9 KOREA REPUBLICMHSK Stadium14:00
126 Oct 2008 INDIA 0:3 SYRIAMHSK Stadium18:00
188 Oct 2008 SYRIA 1:1 KOREA REPUBLICPakhtakor Stadium19:00
208 Oct 2008 INDIA 1:0 INDONESIAMHSK Stadium19:00


Group C: AUSTRALIA, CHINA P.R., SAUDI ARABIA, TURKMENISTAN

#DateMatchVenueKick-Off
55 Oct 2008 CHINA P.R. 2:1 TURKMENISTANPakhtakor Stadium16:00
65 Oct 2008 SAUDI ARABIA 1:3 AUSTRALIAPakhtakor Stadium20:00
137 Oct 2008 TURKMENISTAN 0:4 SAUDI ARABIAPakhtakor Stadium20:00
147 Oct 2008 AUSTRALIA 2:1 CHINA P.R.Pakhtakor Stadium16:00
219 Oct 2008 CHINA P.R. 1:1 SAUDI ARABIAPakhtakor Stadium15:00
239 Oct 2008 AUSTRALIA 6:0 TURKMENISTANMHSK Stadium15:00


Group D: JAPAN, MALAYSIA, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, YEMEN

#DateMatchVenueKick-Off
75 Oct 2008 JAPAN 4:0 MALAYSIAMHSK Stadium14:00
85 Oct 2008 YEMEN 1:1 UNITED ARAB EMIRATESMHSK Stadium18:00
157 Oct 2008 MALAYSIA 1:1 YEMENMHSK Stadium14:00
167 Oct 2008 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 1:6 JAPANMHSK Stadium18:00
229 Oct 2008 JAPAN 1:2 YEMENPakhtakor Stadium19:00
24
The Qantas Joeys have booked a place in the quarter finals of the AFC U16 Championships campaign following their 2-1 victory over China PR in Uzbekistan overnight.

Jared Lum opened the scoring for the Qantas Joeys in the 15th minute when he converted a penalty after Nikola Stanojevic was brought down in the box from a challenge by two Chinese defenders.

Jin Jingdao equalised for China PR, also from the penalty spot, during injury time of the first half. The foul was conceded by Qantas Joeys goalkeeper Robert Kolac who tripped Jingdao in an attempt at a one-one save.

Kamal Ibrahim scored the match winner for the Qantas Joeys five minutes into the second half after he received the ball 30 metres from goal on the left side of the field, cut inside his defender, beat a second Chinese defender and then struck a bullet shot, from just outside the box, into top right hand corner of the goal.

The Qantas Joeys could have extended their lead five minutes later when Ben Kantarovski headed a Marc Warren free kick into the crossbar, but could not find the net.

The Chinese continued to push for another equaliser, but Robert Kolac was up for the challenge and made a great save to keep his teams lead.

A major concern for the Qantas Joeys occurred midway through the second half, when the Captain Brendan Hamill picked up an ankle injury and had to be substituted which involved a reorganisation in defence. The revamped formation held firm and a vital three points were collected by the Qantas Joeys to secure a place in the next round of the tournament

On the injured list, Jared Lum, who left the match early due to illness, looks to be able to participate in the quarter final along with Hamill who will miss the next group match to give himself the best opportunity to lead the Qantas Joeys in the knock-out stage. The prognosis is less encouraging for Eli Babalj who looks to be out of the tournament with a serious ankle injury.

Speaking after the match, Martyn Crook was extremely happy with the result and performance of his team.

"This win has secured us top spot in clearly the toughest group of the competition and the final round will determine our opposition in the quarter finals. We have the opportunity to rest some players and give a chance to other squad members to push for selection in the next round,” said Crook.

"The loss of Jared Lum, Eli Babalj and captain Brendan Hamill during the game tested our resources but there were many outstanding performances, particularly from Chris Bush and Ben Kantarovski. We now await medical advice on the condition of these 3 players and their roles for the rest of the tournament,” concluded Crook.

In the other group C match, Saudi Arabia defeated Turkmenistan 4-0. The Qantas Joeys will meet Turkmenistan in the their final group match at the MHSK Stadium on Thursday 9 October (Kick-off 3pm UZT).


Match Details:
Qantas Joeys 2 (Jared Lum 16’(pen), Kamal Ibrahim 50’)
China PR 1 (Jin Jingdao 46+’(pen))
Tuesday 7 October 2008
Pakhtakor Stadium, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Referee: Mohsen Torky
Assistant Referees: Joonmo Jang & Awni Hassouneh
Fourth Official: Mohamad Mansour
Crowd: 4,000

Qantas Joeys line-up: Robert Kolac, Chahine Noujaim, Petar Franjic, Brendan Hamill (C) (Trent Sainsbury 73’), Marc Warren, Nikola Stanojevic, Chris Bush, Jared Lum (Ben Kantarovski 28’), Kamal Ibrahim, Stephen Domenici, Eli Babalj (Teddy Yabio 46’).

Substitutes Not Used: Colin Wright, Aaron Lennox, Mark Perrone, Dimitrios Petratos, Nathan Farrell, Cameron Edwards, Danai Gapare, Zac Tubbs (gk).

Yellows Cards: Kamal Ibrahim 67’, Brendan Hamill 70’, Nikola Stanojevic 85’.

Red Cards: Nil

AFC U16 CHAMPIONSHIPS - UZBEKISTAN 2008
OFFICIAL MATCH SCHEDULE

Group A: BAHRAIN, I.R. IRAN, SINGAPORE, UZBEKISTAN

#DateMatchVenueKick-Off
14 Oct 2008 I.R. IRAN 2:0 BAHRAINPakhtakor Stadium20:00
24 Oct 2008 SINGAPORE 0:7 UZBEKISTANPakhtakor Stadium16:00
96 Oct 2008 BAHRAIN 3:0 SINGAPOREPakhtakor Stadium20:00
106 Oct 2008 UZBEKISTAN 1:2 I.R. IRANPakhtakor Stadium16:00
178 Oct 2008 I.R. IRAN vs. SINGAPOREMHSK Stadium15:00
198 Oct 2008 UZBEKISTAN vs. BAHRAINPakhtakor Stadium15:00


Group B: INDIA, INDONESIA, KOREA REPUBLIC, SYRIA

#DateMatchVenueKick-Off
34 Oct 2008 SYRIA 2:1 INDONESIAMHSK Stadium18:00
44 Oct 2008 KOREA REPUBLIC 5:2 INDIAMHSK Stadium14:00
116 Oct 2008 INDONESIA 0:9 KOREA REPUBLICMHSK Stadium14:00
126 Oct 2008 INDIA 0:3 SYRIAMHSK Stadium18:00
188 Oct 2008 SYRIA vs. KOREA REPUBLICPakhtakor Stadium19:00
208 Oct 2008 INDIA vs. INDONESIAMHSK Stadium19:00


Group C: AUSTRALIA, CHINA P.R., SAUDI ARABIA, TURKMENISTAN

#DateMatchVenueKick-Off
55 Oct 2008 CHINA P.R. 2:1 TURKMENISTANPakhtakor Stadium16:00
65 Oct 2008 SAUDI ARABIA 1:3 AUSTRALIAPakhtakor Stadium20:00
137 Oct 2008 TURKMENISTAN 0:4 SAUDI ARABIAPakhtakor Stadium20:00
147 Oct 2008 AUSTRALIA 2:1 CHINA P.R.Pakhtakor Stadium16:00
219 Oct 2008 CHINA P.R. vs. SAUDI ARABIAPakhtakor Stadium15:00
239 Oct 2008 AUSTRALIA vs. TURKMENISTANMHSK Stadium15:00


Group D: JAPAN, MALAYSIA, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, YEMEN

#DateMatchVenueKick-Off
75 Oct 2008 JAPAN 4:0 MALAYSIAMHSK Stadium14:00
85 Oct 2008 YEMEN 1:1 UNITED ARAB EMIRATESMHSK Stadium18:00
157 Oct 2008 MALAYSIA 1:1 YEMENMHSK Stadium14:00
167 Oct 2008 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 1:6 JAPANMHSK Stadium18:00
229 Oct 2008 JAPAN vs. YEMENPakhtakor Stadium19:00
249 Oct 2008 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES vs. MALAYSIAMHSK Stadium19:00


Quarter Finals

#DateMatchVenue
QF112 Oct 2008 Winner Group A vs. Runner Up Group BPakhtakor Stadium16:00
QF212 Oct 2008 Winner Group B vs. Runner Up Group APakhtakor Stadium20:00
QF312 Oct 2008 Winner Group C vs. Runner Up Group DMHSK Stadium14:00
QF412 Oct 2008 Winner Group D vs. Runner Up Group CMHSK Stadium18:00


Semi Finals

#DateMatchVenue
SF115 Oct 2008 Winner QF1 vs. Winner QF3Pakhtakor Stadium15:00
SF215 Oct 2008 Winner QF2 vs. Winner QF4Pakhtakor Stadium19:00


Final

#DateMatchVenue
F18 Oct 2008 Winner SF1 vs. Winner SF2Pakhtakor Stadium16:00



The Qantas Young Socceroos had a 2-1 win over Thailand in Bangkok last night in the ASEAN Football Federation U19 Championships.

The first half was fairly evenly contested with both teams having good chances which were unrewarded.

At half time, coach Jan Versleijen made only one change bringing on Nikolas Tsattalios for James Brown. The Qantas Young Socceroos scored in the 53rd minute when Mitch Nicholls gathered the ball in the front half, ran to the top of the box and swept one neatly past the goalkeeper.

The pace stepped up when Tahj Minniecon was brought on for Andreas Govas in the 54th minute, with Minniecon making an impact six minutes later with a trademark run down the right, to sidestep the defence from just inside the box with a pinpoint cross to Nathan Elasi who made no mistake in giving Australia its second goal.

Thailand then stepped up a gear and tested the Australian defence with two impressive saves by Alex Cisak within one minute of each other. Thailand kept up the pressure and rewarded 11 minutes later when a well-worked move to the Thai striker at the top edge of the box went past Cisak.

Versleijen was pleased with another win.

"We have finished the group stage of the tournament in top position and that was our aim.

"In these first three games I have used as many players as possible, but now that we're moving into the knockout stage, I will be using the strongest possible team especially as we're also preparing for the Asian Championships later in the month."

Versleijen said that the second half was an improved performance on the first, and he was particularly pleased with the way the midfield worked hard to create chances.

ENDS

Match Details
Australia, 2 (Nicholls 53', Elasi 60') - Thailand, 1
Thursday 9 October 2008
Royal Thai Army Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand

Jason Naidovski (Newcastle Jets), Thomas Oar (Queensland Roar), Andrew Redmayne (gk) (Central Coast Mariners),

Qantas Young Socceroos line up: Alex Cisack (gk), Sebastian Ryall, Sam Munro, Matthew Jurman, James Holland (Dane Milovanovic 71'), Mitch Nicholls, Milos Lujic, Ryan McGowna, Nathan Elasi, James Brown (Nikolas Tsattalios 46'), Andreas Govas (Tahj Minniecon 54')

Substitutes Not Used: Scott Balderson, Peter Cvetanovski, Luke De Vere, Jason Naidovski, Thomas Oar, Andrew Redmayne (gk)

Yellow Cards: Holland 67', Milovanovic 71'

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).

ASEAN Football Federation U19 Championships
Match Schedule

MatchDateFixtureKick-Off TimeVenue
1Sun 5 Oct 08Korea Republic 1:0 Thailand5:00pm TST (9:00pm AEDT)Supachalasai Stadium
2Sun 5 Oct 08Australia 3:1 China PR7:30pm TST (11:30pm AEDT)Supachalasai Stadium
3Tues 7 Oct 08Korea Republic 0:0 Australia 5:00pm TST (9:00pm AEDT)Royal Thai Army Stadium
4Tues 7 Oct 08China PR 0:3 Thailand 7:30pm TST (11:30pm AEDT)Royal Thai Army Stadium
5 Thurs 9 Oct 08China PR vs. Korea Republic5:00pm TST (9:00pm AEDT)Supachalasai Stadium
6Thurs 9 Oct 08Thailand vs. Australia 7:30pm TST (11:30pm AEDT)Supachalasai Stadium
7Sat 11 Oct 083rd Position vs. 4th Position5:00pm TST (9:00pm AEDT)Supachalasai Stadium
8 (final)Sat 11 Oct 08Group Champion vs. Group R-up7:30pm TST (11:30pm AEDT)Supachalasai Stadium