Young Socceroos thrashed by Spain

Really glad I forgot this one was on; all those in the opening minutes, would have ruined my morning entirely!

Better to suck mangos than lemons.....

I hate to cross codes here, but Ben Cousins is an Australian example of off-field ill-discipline married with on-field brilliance. Just need to get Bulut to run away from a police stop!

Actually I need to update that. Wikipedia reports that Cecillon was released on parole just over four weeks ago.

ok I admit my knowledge of sport superstars with violent crime isn't that good

The team that promised so much delivered so little. The manager must take the blame and if he keeps his job then the FFA is not serious about moving forward with youth football development. Similar style and results as the U17s. The rest of the world is developing their talented youth better than we are. We are going backwards in comparison. These players played better with A-League coaches.

How about Orenthal James.....oh wait, no. He was found not guilty. But surely you are forgetting former star French rugby international Marc Cecillon, currently doing time for having shot his wife dead.

In no way do I want to condone the behaviour but here are some EPL footballers (all English, of course!) who've been convicted of violent crimes: Andy Carroll, Paul Gascoigne, Lee Bowyer, Jonathan Woodgate, Stan Collymore, Joey Barton ... Interesting to note that most of the above played for Newcastle United at some stage in their career! And, Stevie Gerard went to court on a significant assault charge but, was found not guilty by a jury of his peers ... but, I guess, so was OJ! ;-) EDIT: oops ... how could I forget the most obvious one ... Vinnie Jones, but I guess he could never be classed as a superstar!

I'll also add that sports superstars may get away with being an alcoholic or a drug addict or an adulterer. That type of lack of discipline seems to be forgivable to the public However I don't know many superstars guilty of violent crimes

1999 young socceroos That lost 3-1 to Mexico and were trash by Republic of Ireland 4-0 and were knocked out in the group stage That side had Bresciano, Grella, Sterjovski,Jason Culina, Brett Emerton colosimo, That side produce a few regular socceroos player and one of our more productives youth team producing far more regular socceroos players then most youth sides. Youth results and national representation rarely coincide for Australia

I dunno. Some times the players on good underage teams just don't make it at senior level, for whatever reason. Though I suspect that coming from countries with a rather meagre professional club game might be a disadvantage. In 1997, the republic of Ireland under 20 side came third in the world cup, having lost in the semi finals to the eventual winners Argentina. That Argentinian side contained several lads that went on to become top professionals. You may have heard of the likes of Esteban Cambiasso, Juan Riquelme, Walter Samuel, Diego Placente and Pablo Aimar, who were only the more notable of the ten members of that squad who went on to become full internationals. The Irish team that came third only had two players who went on to become full internationals. It's a classic pub quiz question to name both of them. Most people would have heard of Damien Duff, but you have to be a dedicated League of Ireland supporter if you are ever to have heard of Glen Crowe who won a solitary full cap in a friendly international some years back. incidentally, the English team who lost to Argentina at the quarter final stage had five players who went on to become full England internationals: Danny Murphy, Jamie Carragher, Michael Owen, Matthew Upson and Kieran Dyer. Another two (Jason Euell and Jon Macken) made use of the granny rule to play for Jamaica and Ireland respectively. And no. I don't remember Macken at all either :)

Massive reality check for the FFA this morning. Not sure what the future holds for JV now. For the majority of the 3 matches, I didn't enjoy the way team played. Don't think I ever saw them string more than 4-5 passes together. The boys were all very gung-ho and a bit selfish at times, not picking out the 'free' man and going for glory. They made heaps of mistakes, which is probably expected at this age, but their judgement and decision making was poor. I reckon the coach and tuis Dutch method seriously needs reviewing. For me, Birighitti is gonna be a superstar goalkeeper. The defence in all 3 games is what let us down, we scored 4 goals which isn't too bad but conceded 9. That's a disaster! Not sure why Franjic didn't hold down a centre-back position, has played very well in all Victory games, also no idea why Jason Davidson wasn't picked, playing in Portugal, highly technical level, even in the 2nd division, would do well here. Warren was woeful, got beaten by his man 9 out of 10 times. Ditto Sainsbury and Grant. Midfield was paper thin, nobody to hold it down and control the game, ok going forward but got smashed the other way, Antonis should have played every minute, the kid is a gun! Wrong move to play Kanta, massively underdone and was found out! Amini and Oar didn't have great campaigns but showed enough to suggest they will be top players. Both Danning and Bernie really showed that they don't get much game time for their clubs, but I reckon Bernie especially is a talent. Bulut will become a gun striker, the kid is dynamite, pity Sydney FC couldn't see that! It was a shame not to see Leckie, he would have done well. So all in all, a bit disappointing, but I can see a few guns coming out of this group. Just a shame the back 4 were like a leaking tap, and the coaching was sub-standard I thought. Anyway that's my rant, can't wait till next season to see some of these boys shine.

Cattery you gotta wonder. World junior football must have been at its lowest ebb to allow THAT joeys side to make the final

I agree Roarchild, defenders to tend to mature later, and perhaps Hamill could well improve. He was the one defender who you could say has something going for him. another thing also is, majority of the squad were A-League related or Aussie based. Just read somewhere that Ryan Williams, younger brother of Rhys made his debut off the bench for Pompey against Boro whom Rhys plays for. His just turned 18 I think. What begs the question is, why wasn't Ryan Williams part of any squad, Joeys or Young roos? Add him along with Lustica, leckie, Davidson, mcgrath, the squad was no where near at full strength. on a side note: gee everyones having a go at David Zdrilic commentary. It certainly isn't Simon Hill or Martin Tyler

Perhaps, although I think Australia would be far less tolerant and forgiving of an Australian equivalent of a Joey Barton Any repeat offence from Bulut could finish his career for Australia.

Perhaps, "lack of discipline off the pitch" is the special 5th criterion needed for football greatness? ;-) It certainly seems to be the case for many of the Game's superstars from Maradonna to Garrincha; from Georgie Best to Paul Gascoigne!

I agree with Bulut Although one thing he does lack (at least in recent time) is discipline off the pitch. If he stays out of the headlines (off the field) he should be a star for the socceroos.

I thought Hamil did some good work and I hope he matures as a result of his experience at the cup. Bulut was one of the bright lights in our team and he has the same work ethic as Cahill and dare I mention Holman. On the flip side Amini was terribly disappointing. I hope his German club didn't see his efforts at this tournament. Basically we got outdone in class - it would not have mattered what system we played we would not have had enough of the ball to threaten. And David Zdrilic is a disappointing commentator.

Excellent observation, The Cattery, and definitely puts things into perspective.

Defenders tend to mature later. Someone like Hamil could be a much better defender in a couple of years time. There are still a huge chunk of this squad that aren't A League regulars and aren't certain of there spot. By the time your 18 if your really good you should be getting games. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.