Qantas Joeys Head Coach Alistair Edwards is excited about the challenges his squad will face as part of the upcoming campaign.

"The standard of youth football throughout Asia has risen considerably over the past decade, there are no longer any easy games, which I think is a positive development”, said Edwards.

"At the recent qualifying tournament (for the AFC U-16 Championship) we lost to Thailand (2-3) so that gives you an indication of how competitive it is going to be to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.

"Each of the groups have quality teams and each country will be travelling to Iran with the objective of qualification.

"Having said that Group C looks particularly strong with four traditional powerhouses who heavily invest and recognise the importance of providing opportunities for the players and coaches to develop.

"The situation with the draw means that two high quality teams will not even make it out of the group stage.

The fact that none of those players are contracted to an A-League club is both unsurprising and sad.

Academies are needed, full stop.

It's kind of hard actually as this age range is 14-15 and so a year or two too young for even the NYL sides. As too, a number of the boys being in the AIS or State Institutes, it reflects that they will graduate through there, or atleast spend a bit more time there, before a few of them joining A-League clubs, just like those before them.

So again, Draupnir I think you have the generations confused, IF we were talking the U18/19s with the next Young Socceroos squad, then I'd fully concur if the squad if this were the case for that squad. But odds are that squad will not only have a number of NYL/A-League boys, but some of them will be already featuring/starring in the A-League now, like Terry Antonis, Jake Barker-Daish, Curtis Good, Mitch Cooper, Josh Brillante, Jacob Melling, Jesse Makarounas, Adam Taggart and the like as too hopefully European based boys like Musti Amini, Corey Gameiro, Jamie McLaren and the like.

Those are all logical selections that Okon and co will opt for. But there may be even better, especially in Europe and here's hoping the 'European based scout' for the FFA, Stu McLaren, finds them!

Why no Teeboy?

Teeboy is a 96 born ( apparently ) so he is eligible for the current Joeys. Im not sure of the rulings over whether a player can play in concurrent Youth World Cups though!!! Bright Appiah who is listed in the squad above did not make the trip to Laos. Not sure why, possible injury. I know this because my son has been training with the AIS for the last week under Ufuk Talay and Bright did not train. Although he did not seem injured.
Good luck to the boys in the tournament in Laos, hope they gain the experience needed for the up coming Asia Cup/World Cup qualifiers.

Age wise he is absolutely eligible, the question is what the rules are on consecutive WC representation at this age group.

Bright is a talented boy, seen him play futsal out our way, hope he goes well, would love to see SFC sign him into the NYL squad.

Best of luck with you boy btw! :)

I'm sure I read somewhere that you can't be eligible for 2 U17 World Cups.

Im sure you are right MidfieldMaestro

I wonder if these games would be telecasted on online? I hoped they would get streamed, it's Asia so you never know? :-k
What time are these played? Anyone know?

Edited by Barca4life: 1/6/2012 11:34:34 AM

http://www.aseanfootball.org/?p=8486

AFF UNDER-16 PREPARATORY TOURNAMENT 2012

(All matches at the Lao National Stadium, KM16)


2 June 2012: Australia vs Japan (16:00)
Thailand vs Laos (19:00)


4 June 2012: Japan vs Thailand (16:00)
Laos vs Australia (19:00)


6 June 2012: Australia vs Thailand (16:00)
Japan vs Laos (19:00)


8 June 2012: 3rd position vs 4th position (16:00)
Winner vs Runner-up (19:00)

Are those times local time or EST standard time?

Rafa Jimenez was keen to join but wasn't registered in time

Just found on Alistair Edwards twitter account that we drew 1-1 with Japan which is a decent result to start the tournament.

Thanks for that VoR - It will be interesting to see how the overseas boys or how many, how often, will be used during qualification with the Young Socceroos particularly. Understandably, at U16 level, I presume it's best not to disrupt them in Europe, but as 17/19 year olds I'm sure there are a number over there who would be willing to come over, if called upon. I'd love to see the number pushing half a dozen or more for most of the Young Socceroos' qualifiers, or the key ones atleast.

Also - I actually think it's for the best, especially after what we saw with the Olyroos. The difference in quality a Corey Gameiro, hopefully fit and firing again Dylan Tombides and the like can bring, can literally be the difference between a positive result and 0-0 draws or worse. We can't afford to slump it in selection this time. That's one thing Versleijan did well - he selected alot of Euro boys right through and that's what helped the Young Socceroos qualify through the AFC - overseas boys like Bulut clearly made a difference, as did Tombides with the previous Joeys gen. There may be a good, more creative midfielder about too - But in saying that Musti Amini is STILL about - still young enough to qualify for the Young Socceroos once more - He'll surely set a new record for all time Young Socceroo caps by the end of his spell (Maybe our version of James Milner and his 40 somoething caps for England's Under 21s rofl)! lol

Edited by gloryperth: 3/6/2012 04:43:44 AM

Laos :oops:

Laos :oops:

Joeys won 3-2 over Laos, again good result.

Qantas Joeys make undefeated start
Wednesday, 6 June 2012 8:36 AM

The Qantas Joeys are currently participating in an AFF U16 Preparatory Tournament in the Laos capital Vientiane. On Saturday evening (AEST) the Qantas Joeys played their first match and overnight played the host nation in the second of this four match competition.

The first game was clearly billed as a battle of the heavyweights with the Qantas Joeys drawn to play Japan in the opening match of the tournament.

Played, in mid-30 degree heat and high humidity, the game was an entertaining and skilled affair with both teams creating plenty of opportunities.

Play was evenly poised until the 43rd minute when Miyoshi got in behind the Qantas Joeys defence with a deft flick over his head on the edge of the penalty box, finishing with a scorching shot into the top left corner.

Throughout the first half Qantas Joey Steve Kuzmanovski was a crowd favourite with his electric runs and array of manoeuvres on the ball, beating his opponent on many occasions but the Australians weren’t able to capitalise on their possession in the front half.

Having gone behind just before the break, the Qantas Joeys were clearly a more determined outfit after it, confidently playing out and creating real chances.

Captain Aaron Calver took charge in the key defensive post and, with a variety of slick passing and directed long balls, particularly to left winger Alex Gersbach, the Qantas Joeys looked to be gaining the ascendancy, the difference was the injection of Josh MacDonald up front early in the second half that paid real dividends, contesting well and getting in behind the Japanese defence on a number of occasions.

With only five minutes gone the Joeys capitalised on a set piece from the right when substitute centre back Jack Iredale scored the equaliser from a well weighted ball dispatched into the net at close range on his non preferred right foot, getting a goal on debut.

From that point it was all out attack by both sides with a number of chances going begging. At full time the 1-1 result was a fair reflection of where the teams stood against each other.

“The game provided a great tactical challenge for us with the Japanese midfield movement creating a few issues, particularly in the final 10 minutes of the first half.

“I was particularly pleased with how we were able to adapt to the changing game in the second half and in all, it was a very pleasing first up performance”

Monday night’s game against hosts Laos saw both teams in an arm wrestle for the first half with the Laotian team camped in their own half for the majority of the term, content to let the Qantas Joeys pass it amongst their backs, waiting to capitalise on any mistake.

After the break it was as if Qantas Joeys were fielding a fresh side by comparison. The midfield picked up the tempo, the ball was moved with purpose and the coach’s direction to take the play to their Lao opponents had obviously been heeded. Irrespective, Laos managed to find the net against the run of play to take a one goal lead but this only served to galvanise the Qantas Joeys.

The introduction of Kevin Ly into a tiring midfield and centre back Aaron Calver into the key forward post proved decisive with Kevin scoring the equaliser in the 62nd minute with his grounded shot in heavy traffic unsighted by the Lao ‘keeper.

With the game back in the balance Laos lifted their work rate but were starting to be overrun by the Joeys and this dominance turned into scoreboard advantage when Gersbach’s free from the right was contested in the box and fell to Josh MacDonald who executed a neat scissor kick to find the net from directly in front.

A jubilant Qantas Joeys outfit were deflated only a few minutes later when Laos broke through leaving Spinella no chance of stopping a cracking shot which saw Laos equalise in the 81st minute.

The Qantas Joeys continued to press and had a number of shots denied or miss the mark until Aaron Calver, having not made the most of an earlier opportunity, slot the winner from close range in the 88th minute. The final score, 3-2 to the Qantas Joeys.

“Before the game we made sure that the boys were aware that Laos would sit in their own half waiting for us to make a mistake” said Qantas Joeys Assistant Coach, Tony Vidmar.

“We made things tough for ourselves in the first half. Then at half time we reinforced the importance of patient build up play, increasing the ball speed and how player movement and rotation is important within the system to combat and penetrate their packed defence.”

Football Federation Australia would like to thank the AIS for their ongoing support for this training camp and tournament and the Qantas Joeys Football Program.

AUSTRALIA 1:1 JAPAN
Australia: Thurtell (GK), Madden, Calver (C), Warland (Iredale 25’), Ly, Kuzmanovski, Rose (Ntoumenopoulos 70’), Hanna (MacDonald 45’), De Silva, Gersbach, Spinella (GK), Schmidt.

Substitutes not used: Pickert, Spinella (GK), Nicolis, Tshongo, Gonano,
Stergiou

Goals: Iredale 50’
Yellow cards Madden, Schmidt
Red cards None

AUSTRALIA 3:2 LAOS
Australia: Pickert, Rose (Ly 55’), De Silva (Kuzmanovski 45’), Gersbach, Spinella (GK), Nicolis, Tshongo, Iredale (C), Ntoumenopoulos, MacDonald, Stergiou (Calver 60’)

Substitutes not used: Thurtell (GK), Madden, Warland, Ly, Hanna, Gonano, Schmidt.

Goals: Ly 62’, MacDonald 72’, Calver 88’
Yellow cards Rose
Red cards None

Next Game
Australia v Thailand, 7pm (AEST) Wednesday 6th June

The game against Thailand finished 4-2 to the Joeys way, they now play in the final against either Japan or Laos, probably Japan.

AFF match report says Japan won 3:0. :-k

http://www.aseanfootball.org/?p=8556

You do realise that the Joeys are an U/17 team right? :?