Australia grab a thrilling late draw against Chile
Australia has played out an entertaining 2-all draw with Chile in their second match of the Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF) in Sydney this evening.
Australia has played out an entertaining 2-all draw with Chile in their second match of the Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF) in Sydney this evening.
After emphatically defeating China 7-1 last night, Australian head coach Paul Okon made only one change to the starting line-up with Cameron Edwards coming in for Jacob Borg.
Edwards re-paid the coach-s decision to start him when he opened the scoring for Australia in the 17th minute with a strike from outside the box that took a deflection off the Chilean goal-keeper-s hands and bounced into the goal.
Chile pushed hard for an equaliser and were rewarded for their efforts in the 29th minute when Yashir Pinto was on hand to tap in after Australian goal-keeper Lucas Andreucci blocked a header and then another shot but could not prevent the third attempt from finding the net.
Pinto popped up again in the 37th minute to give Chile the lead before the half-time break when he exploited a gap in the Australian defence.
The second half saw Australia lift their intensity, but the goals that came so easily against China last night were not as forthcoming on this occasion. Chile also continued to apply the pressure, but the Australian defence held firm.
With the match looking destined to finish in favour of the Chileans, Australia were awarded a free-kick, deep into time added-on, just out the box on the left. Kearyn Baccus stepped up for the challenge and calmly placed his shot inside the far post to give Australia a last-gasp equaliser.
Speaking after the match, Australian coach Paul Okon was happy that his team was rewarded for their effort-s with the draw.
"We started off well, but had a lapse in concentration midway through the first half when we conceded two goals due to poor defending.
"As we expected, Chile were a strong opposition and we did well to get back into the match and keep pace with them.
“For Kearyn to hit a strike like he did for the equaliser was a deserved reward for the effort that the boys showed throughout the match.
"I expect our next match against the USA to be a very similar contest, but we can-t afford to have any lapses in concentration if we want to win the tournament,” concluded Okon.
In the other match of the evening, the USA defeated China 14-0.
Australia-s next match at the AYOF is on Sunday evening against the USA in their final match of the tournament on (kick-off 6pm AEDT)
Match Details
Australia 2 (Cameron Edwards 17-, Kearyn Baccus 94+-) Chile 2 (Yashir Pinto 29-/37-)
Friday 16 January 2009 Valentine Sports Park, Glenwood Crowd: 400
Referee: Alan Milliner Assistant Referees: Nick Backo and Scott Edeling Fourth Official: Gary Vandeburgt
Australia line-up: 1.Lucas ANDREUCCI (gk) 4.Daniel BOWLES (c), 5.Peter FRANJIC, 6.Kearyn BACCUS, 7.Mitchell BEVAN (11.Joshua McVEY 48-), 8.Cameron EDWARDS, 10.Kliment TASESKI (16.Neko VUJEVICH 83-), 13.Steven LUSTICA (12.Jacob BORG 86-), 14.Tyler THURTELL (9.Joshua GROENAWALD 57-), 15.Koh SATAKE (2.Liam HARVEY 81-), 17.James VIRGILI
Substitutes Not Used: 3.Dylan DE MONTIS, 18.Dejan ALEKSIC (gk)
Yellow Cards: Joshua McVEY 53- Red Cards: Nil
Chile line-up: 1.Carlos ALFARO (gk), Benjamin VIDAL, 3.Matias BLAZQUEZ, 5.Hugo CACERAS, 8.Juan ESPINOZA, 10.Jose SILVA (c) (6.Luis GALLEGOS 74-), 11.Yashir PINTO (9.Ramses BUSTOS 63-), 16.Marco OPAZO, 17.Diego OPAZO, 18.Bernardo CAMPOS (7.Johanns DULCIEN 57-), 20.Misael DA VILA (14.Fernando ESPINOZA 65-)
Substitutes Not Used: 4.Daniel ULLOA, 12.Diego FUENTES (gk), 15.Leonardo VALENCIA
Yellow Cards: Mirco OPAZO 32-, Hugo CACERAS 54-, Ramses BUSTO 93+-, Benjamin VIDAL 94+- Red Cards: Nil