“There were some excellent individual performances” – Joeys conclude UEFA ASSIST Tournament with 2-2 draw

March 11, 2019 admin UEFA 0

Joeys Head Coach Trevor Morgan has praised his side’s belief in their abilities following the conclusion of their UEFA ASSIST tournament campaign.

Australia’s U17 side ended their time in Turkey with a 2-2 draw with Guinea over the weekend, goals from Rockdale Cite Sun Noah Botic – his second of the tournament – and Brisbane Roar’s Jordan Courtney-Perkins ensuring that their side left Europe with at least a point after suffering defeats at the hands of Turkey and Tanzania in their first two games.

Australia was the only Asian side represented at the tournament being staged in Antalya, Turkey. Belarus, Montenegro and Turkey are representing the host confederation at the competition, whilst Angola, Cameroon, Guinea, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda are representing Africa.

Both Africa and Europe will complete their qualifying for the World Cup in the coming months at the 2019 Africa U17 Cup of Nations in April and the 2019 UEFA European U17 Championship in May.

“This match [Against Guinea] was an excellent way to conclude our involvement in the UEFA Assist Tournament in Turkey,” Morgan said.

“Playing a second African team in three days was an opportunity to experience and learn from competitive match play against opponents about to go to FIFA U-17 World Cup qualification in a couple of weeks.

“Our focus in this match was to maintain control of the flow of the match against another team full of pace, power, and individual skill.

“Guinea were aggressive in their challenges and direct in their play.

“The boys did well in both halves to build attacks through controlled possession, and with some good movement and combination play, we created some excellent chances. We were pleased that our goals came from controlled play – showing belief in what we are trying to do pays dividends.

“There were some excellent individual performances over the three matches and now our focus turns to monitoring players in club football over the next two-to-three months.

“Joeys staff will be looking for players who are consistently performing at a high level and working with clubs to ensure we are aware of others who may come into contention for our 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup squad.”

FIFA is set to announce a new host for the U17 World Cup – likely Brazil – after recently stripping previous hosts Peru of the tournament citing organisational challenges.

A formal announcement is expected this week.

HEADER IMAGE CREDIT: FFA

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