Joeys advance to knockout phase at FIFA U-17 World Cup Brazil 2019

Australia’s U-17 men’s national football team, the Joeys, secured progression to the knockout phase of the FIFA U-17 World Cup Brazil 2019 on Saturday (AEDT), after securing a 2-1 victory over Group B winners Nigeria at the Estadio Bezerrao in Brasilia.

A brace from TSG 1899 Hoffenheim attacker Noah Botic – the former National Premier Leagues (NPL) New South Wales striker’s third and fourth goals of the tournament – ensured Australia defeated the five-time FIFA U-17 World Cup winning nation to seal progression as one of the competition’s four best third-placed sides.

Nigeria are a regular powerhouse at youth international level, and the victory for Trevor Morgan’s side marked Australia’s first win over the African nation at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in seven attempts. The nations previously met at FIFA U-17 World Cups in 1987, 1993, 1995, 2001, 2005, and 2015.

Australia will now face either the winner of Group C (France, Chile or Korea Republic) or Group D (Senegal or Japan) in the last 16 of the tournament next week. Match details will be confirmed subsequent to other tournament results over the next 48 hours. 

REPORT: Botic double downs Nigeria
MORGAN: 'Commitment and belief' powered Joeys to beat Nigeria 

"We came here to win games and, although Nigeria were fantastic, we got the result,” Morgan said post-match. “It’s a plus for the boys, for their commitment and belief to come here and play a top team and win.”

“We played an excellent team with great quality and great physical capacity [but] the boys were able to keep concentrating, keep working, and in the end the result was fantastic for us.”

Football Federation Australia (FFA) National Technical Director, Rob Sherman, has watched the Joeys’ performances at the tournament closely. Sherman explained that there have been plenty of positives to take from the team’s displays thus far.  

“The team have shown considerable spirit throughout the tournament coming back from early setbacks in their first two games before securing a fantastic win against Nigeria,” Sherman said. “The Joeys have shown a level of composure throughout and demonstrated that they pose an attacking threat and can create goalscoring opportunities.”

“This is the first generation of players that have emerged from Small Sided Games, Skill Acquisition Programs, NPL, Talent Support Programs, and Hyundai A-Legaue Academies, underpinned by the National Curriculum. The game should be proud.

“We cannot however rest on our laurels and we need to raise the bar even higher with the evolution of the academy and talent development system along with the curriculum. It does demonstrate the potential Australia has to create the landscape for talented male and female players to emerge and progress into top football, provided we in the game cooperate and work together to capitalise on the resources we have to overcome the resources we don’t. It will be exciting to watch many of these players make their senior debuts in the Hyundai A-League and professional football across the world in the coming years,” Sherman concluded.

Australia’s ongoing participation at the FIFA U-17 World Cup this month adds to a long list of national team activity throughout November 2019. The Westfield Young Matildas are currently competing at the 2019 AFC U-19 Women’s Championship in Thailand, the Westfield Matildas play Chile in two matches on home soil over the next ten days, the Caltex Socceroos will continue their qualification campaign for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 away to Jordan in a fortnight, while the Pararoos will play an international friendly against Canada at Cromer Park on November 30.

Australia U-17 Men’s National Football Team (‘Joeys’) 21-Player Squad | FIFA U-17 World Cup Brazil 2019