Joeys overwhelm China
06/10/2008 7:40 PM
The Young Socceroos have defeated China 3-1 in their opening match of the ASEAN Football Federation U19 Championships match in Thailand.
After conceding a goal three minutes into the match, Milos Lujic equalised for the Joeys two minutes later, neatly placing his shot past the Chinese 'keeper from a James Holland pass. Lujic then netted his second goal in the 18th minute when he headed home a Tahj Minniecon cross.
Midway through the second half, the Young Socceroos had a chance to extend their lead when Thomas Oar hit the cross bar with a great strike. Unfortunately, James Holland was unable to head in the rebound.
Mitch Nichols did finally score the third goal in the 74th minute, nodding home a long lofted pass from Peter Cvetanovski from inside the box.
Australian coach Jan Versleijen was happy with his team's first match of the tournament.
"This was a good win to start with," Versleijen said. "Our players showed good mentality coming from 1 nil down to win 3 -1."
"Although, there are still some areas we need to improve on like our concentration in the latter stage of each half and our composure," he added.
In the other match of the tournament, the Korea Republic defeated host nation Thailand 1-0.
Australia will face Korea in its second match of the tournament on Friday evening (AEST).