Young Socceroos thump Fiji - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Young Socceroos thump Fiji

23/12/2002 05:37:07 PM Comments (0)

Australia's Under 20s have showed their senior counterparts the way by booking a place in the soccer World Youth Championship finals after a thumping 15-0 aggregate win over Fiji in the Oceania qualifying play-off.

Captain Scott McDonald scored twice, either side of strikes from Franco Parisi and substitute midfielder Matthew McKay, as Australia followed up Saturday's home-leg 11-0 win with a 4-0 triumph in Ba.

The Young Socceroos' qualification comes less than a week after FIFA announced Oceania will be guaranteed representation at the 2006 soccer World Cup.

Frank Farina's Socceroos are clear favourites to win through that qualifying campaign and his side may well include a number of the youngsters who have shone in this Under-20 tournament.

Despite coach Ange Postecoglou making nine changes, Australia put Fiji under the cosh from the outset and raced into a 2-0 lead.

McDonald, who is on the books with premier league outfit Southampton and has enjoyed a prolific qualifying campaign, struck after only 11 minutes, with Parisi pouncing to double the advantage 10 minutes later.

But the Fiji defence that capitulated in Melbourne at the weekend stood firm as Australia launched wave upon wave of attacks.

A host of chances went begging before the hosts' resolve eventually broke five minutes from time, when a brilliant strike from McKay put the Australians 3-0 up.

And with the Fijians broken, McDonald added his second goal just two minutes later to emphatically propel Australia into their seventh consecutive World Championships.

Postecoglou said: "Today was very tough for the players with very warm and humid conditions, a bumpy pitch, not to mention the long trip.

"Considering the conditions I was once again very pleased with the way that the boys performed.

"Our next time together will probably be just prior to the Championship which is not that far away, so hopefully all the boys will keep playing first team football and stay match fit."

The Young Socceroos must now await the official draw on January 29 before knowing the identity of their opponents.

Brought to you by AAP AAP © 2024 AAP

0 Comments about this article

Post a comment about this article

Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.

« All sports news