- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The Young Socceroos head into tonight’s match against North Korea with a chance to make history and to provide a glimpse into Australia’s football future.
The Young Socceroos have had a fantastic tournament at the AFC Under-19 Championships in China, banging in goals for fun and already qualifying for next year’s 2011 FIFA Under 20 World Cup. They topped their group and move into the final after defeating the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
They now have the chance to be crowned champions of Asia, a title no other Australian men’s team has achieved, I believe.
This tournament has been important in the development of several of Australia’s most talent youngsters, such as Tommy Oar, Matthew Leckie and Ben Kantarovski.
Oar has already a few caps for the Socceroos, Leckie has been on the fringes of the Socceroos for some time, and would have made the Paraguay squad if it wasn’t for this tournament, while Kantarovski has made Socceroo camps previously but never played a match.
The tournament has also been great for some of the teenage prodigies, like Sydney FC’s 16-year old Terry Antonis, who scored against Iran, and AIS youngster Ryan Edwards. Speaking to an executive at an A-League club this week who rated Edwards, the son of former Socceroo Alistair, very highly and said he has a bright future, the same as Antonis.
The Young Socceroos squad has featured some familiar names to A-League observers like Kofi Danning, Ryan Grant and Eli Babaj, as well as the talented son of another former Socceroo – Alan Davidson – in Jason Davidson who plys his trade in Portugal.
Another potential star that has also done well is Kerem Bulut. The 18-year old has been knocking in goals for fun, scoring five in the tournament so far. Bulut, who hails from Sydney, plays in the Czech Repbulic for Mlada Boleslav and despite his age has already cracked the clubs first-team and scored in the Czech league. Could he be the answer to the Socceroo’s woes up front in the future?
Like a lot of these players, it’s far too early to say. It would be good to see Oar back in the Socceroos line-up for the Egypt game, and the Asian Cup is probably to soon for the likes of Leckie to force their way in.
But it will be interesting to see how the next four years to the 2014 World Cup takes shape, and how these players continue to develop. The Socceroos line-up is only getting older and it will be time to blood some new players post-Qatar.
A lot of pessimism has been directed recently at Australia’s youth development, but if the Young Socceroos can beat North Korea then it will be a timely boost for Australian football in general. Let’s hope they do.
Thanks must go to Fox Sports for televising the final.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.