WATCH: Morgan and Esposito lament missed chances in narrow loss to Italy U20

CommBank Young Socceroos Head Coach Trevor Morgan and captain Sebastian Esposito rued the team’s missed chances against Italy U20 in a performance with plenty of positives to open the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2025™.

The Aussies put up a gallant fight but lost out 1-0, and while both were disappointed in the result, they were pleased with aspects of the performance that the team can take forward with them into the next game against Argentina.

Assessment of the match

Morgan: (It was a) good start for us in terms of the way we finished the match. We're disappointed with the result. We believed we could win the match today, and the penalty early on obviously made things difficult. But you can see by the end of the game, Italy was hanging on, physically and mentally, and I believe if we took our chances in the second half - or some of the chances in the first half - it's a game we win.

Esposito: I thought we probably started a bit slower than what we usually do. Obviously, conceding early doesn't help, but I thought for the rest of the game we were good. I thought we controlled the game. Most of the game, we created a lot of chances. If we finish them, we win the game. It's pretty simple. So we just want to finish those chances in the next game and keep going.

Creating plenty of chances

Morgan: That's the objective - you're trying to play football, which is about creating chances to score. The bit missing today is a little bit of finishing, either composure or the right decision. Otherwise, I think we have the game.

Esposito: We've got players that can score at any time of the game. That's why we keep pushing to the last minute. But for me, it was just the final pass today, and if we get that going, we’ll be very, very dangerous.

Quality of the opposition

Morgan: I think we have to acknowledge we played a very, very good opponent today with a lot of quality players. So each moment in the game there was real quality for us to overcome. I think it's something to build on for the players and we'll certainly be ready for the next match.

Esposito: They're a good team. They've got a lot of quality. It was good again to play against some boys that I played against in the past, and I was happy with my performance. Just need to get the win next time.

Refocusing against Argentina

Morgan: Now, of course, we focus on what we do, how we do our football the best. And then we'll take a look at anything from Argentina and from tonight. We already played them recently, so we know what to expect.

Esposito: We treat every opponent the same, at the end of the day. Just need to refocus and get back on the training pitch and get ready for them.

Bouncing back and resilience

Morgan: That's what they're here to do. They're here to experience the highest level of football at their age group. And they're here to show that they can handle it - physically, tactically, mentally. This group has had to fight before and I know they will.

MATCH SCHEDULE | FIFA U-20 WORLD CUP CHILE 2025™

Italy 1-0 Australia 
(Mattia Mannini (p) 10') 
Date: Sunday, 28 September 2025 / Monday, 29 September 2025 (AUS) 
Time: 5.00pm (local) / 6.00am (AEST)
Venue: Estadio Elías Figueroa Brander, Valparaíso, Chile
Broadcast: Live on SBS and SBS On Demand

Argentina v Australia
Date: Wednesday, 1 October 2025 / Thursday, 2 October 2025 (AUS) 
Time: 8.00pm (local) / 9.00am (AEST)
Venue: Estadio Elías Figueroa Brander, Valparaíso, Chile
Broadcast: Live on SBS and SBS On Demand

Australia v Cuba
Date: Saturday, 4 October 2025 / Sunday, 5 October 2025 (AUS)
Time: 8.00pm (local) / 10.00am (AEDT)
Venue: Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos, Santiago, Chile
Broadcast: Live on SBS and SBS On Demand