Qantas Young Socceroos hold Argentina to draw

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The Qantas Young Socceroos has drawn its first international match of its South American tour, holding defending World Youth Champions Argentina at Arsenal Stadium in Buenos Aires earlier today.

The match finished scoreless, with the Qantas Young Socceroos defending brilliantly in the second half against a very good Argentina side.

Coach Ange Postecoglou praised the efforts of the players and said the performance was a step in the right direction, as they continue preparations for the AFC Youth Championships being held in India in October/November this year.

“The performance was excellent,” said Postecoglou after the game. “I thought we controlled the game in the first half with our possession game. We knocked the ball around well, but just lacked that clinical finish in the final third of the pitch.

“We got tired as the second half wore on and became a little disjointed, but we defended very well”.

Australia played strongly in the first half without creating too many chances against the well-organised Argentine defence.

Argentina should have grabbed the lead after 37 minutes, when they were presented with a gift opportunity but their striker spurned the chance, by directing his shot past Mitchell Langerak and also the left hand post.

Australia best chance of the first half came shortly after, when after three consecutive corners, Bruce Djite shot over the bar.

Langerak produced a glorious save in the 61st minute, to deny a goalbound effort from the edge of the box, as Argentina started to gain control of the match.

Australia-s best chance of the half came in the 70th minute, as Cameron Watson shot over the bar direct from a free kick that was just outside the penalty box.

The performance was even more meritorious, as the game was shown live around Argentina.

They next face Chile with two matches scheduled for the 12th and 14th in Santiago and Postecoglou acknowledges that they will need to keep improving.

“We have been here a week and feeling more comfortable with ourselves,” said Postecoglou. “We are here to test ourselves against very good opposition and keep improving, which we have done so far.

“We will need to keep improving, as Chile has just returned from Ecuador, where they won a tournament featuring a number of South American countries. They will be a good test.

“It-s all preparation for the AFC qualifiers later this year and these games will certainly help us.”

Match Details

Argentina 0 Australia 0

Match line-up: Mitchell Langerak (GK), Steve O-Dor, Peter Eleftherakis, Matt Spiranovic, Shaun Ontong (Captain), James Downey, Nathan Burns (Robbie Kruse 60-), Evan Berger (Tarek Elrich 65-), Chris Grossman (Brad Porter 74-), Bruce Djite (Ben Vidaic 80-), Troy Hearfield (Cameron Watson 60-) Subs not used: Aleks Vrteski (gk), Ryan McGowan, Sebastian Ryall

Cautions: James Downey (25-), Shaun Ontong (65-)