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The Young Socceroos have qualified for the quarter-finals of the AFC under 19s championship after defeating IR Iran 3-0 in Zibo, China.
A first half goal to Mustafa Amini and second half goals to Kerem Bulut and Terry Antonis gave the Young Socceroos the valuable three points that has put them into the prime position to advance to the semi-finals stage of the competition and qualify for the 2011 FIFA under 20s World Cup.
The opening twenty minutes of the game was a very hard and physical affair, with both teams sharing possession.
Iran had the first real chance of game, after a clumsy tackle from behind by Ben Kantarovski gave Iran a free kick. Yaghoub Karimi’s resulting attempt from 30 metres out was blocked by Rhyan Grant and cleared away from danger.
The Young Socceroos took the lead in the 39th minute after a corner taken by Marc Warren was headed out by an Iranian defender straight to Mustafa Amini who then hit a sweet right footed shot from just outside the box which rocketed into the back of the net.
The Iranians applied the pressure for the early part of the second half, but the Young Socceroos managed to keep the game under control and didn’t look like relinquishing their lead.
On the hour, Mathew Leckie, after receiving the ball on the right side, switched the ball to Tom Oar on the left. Oar then provided a great pinpoint cross into the box for Rhyan Grant to head towards goal which forced the Iranian goalkeeper Ali Reza Safarbeiranvand to make a great save, deflecting the ball onto the post and back into play.
Kerem Bulut was on hand to pounce on the rebound and easily tapped in from close range for the Young Socceroos second goal.
The scoring was completed just before the end of regulation time when Terry Antonis received the ball near the box, dribbled towards goal and then calmly slotted his left footed shot past Ali Reza Safarbeiranv to seal a memorable victory for the Australians.
The match ended on a slightly disappointing note for the Young Socceroos when defender Marc Warren received a red card for retaliation after a clash with Mojtaba Mahboub deep into injury time.
Young Socceroos Head Coach Jan Versleijen was very proud of his team’s performance and believed that the score was not necessarily a true reflection of the match.
“The score didn’t reflect how hard the game was. We had to fight for every ball and play hard as a team for the whole 90 minutes,” he said.
“The first goal was a class goal and so too was the cross from Tom Oar which created the second goal which ensured that we had control of the game.
“There is no doubt that the missed penalty helped us. If the score had got back to 2-1 it could have been a very different end to the match.
“The third goal closed out the game and I was extremely pleased with the overall performance and how well we worked and played as a team.
“With this result we have now qualified for the quarter-finals. We have an important game against the Korea Republic on Friday and this is our next focus for the tournament.”
The Young Socceroos need a draw or a win against the Korea Republic to top the group after the Koreans defeated Yemen 1-0 in the other group match.
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