Australia’s under 17 national football team, the Joeys, has finished the AFC U16 championship held in India in disappointing fashion, losing to 6-0 to Japan.
The Joeys trailed only 1-0 at half time, after an early Soichiro Kozuki goal, but the floodgates opened in the second half as Australia recorded its heaviest lost since its 6-0 defeat to Nigeria at the 2015 U17 World Cup.
The result left Australia bottom of Group B following a 1-0 loss to Kyrgyzstan and a 3-2 loss to Vietnam, with Japan and Vietnam qualifying for the knockout stages of the tournament.
The Joeys also miss qualification for the 2017 U17 World Cup, with the top four nations from the AFC U16 Championship qualifying from the region, alongside hosts, India.
Coach Tony Vidmar who had previously described his players as “scared” after their opening loss to Kyrgyrstan was more circumspect in defeat.
“We gave away a goal straight away so were on the back foot early on. Although we came back into the game in parts our turnover rate and possession was poor,” Vidmar said. “There was gaps in our team and Japan, an excellent team, were simply playing through us.”
“We will go back and review what happened and go from there. Our side is a young one and maybe physically at a disadvantage as we struggled but we always look at the talent and potential we have.”
In contrast there was a far more positive result on Thursday night from the Asean Football Federation (AFF) U19 Championships, where the Young Socceroos, coached by former Joeys assistant Ufuk Talay, beat hosts Vietnam 5-2 to progress to the tournament final.
A-League players George Blackwood (Sydney FC) and Mario Shabow (Western Sydney Wanderers) both scored braces, before Joseph Champness (Brisbane Roar) rounded out the goals. Australia will now face Thailand, who beat the Young Socceroos 5-1 in the group stage, in Saturday’s final.
The tournament, which involves 12 Asean nations and has been held annually since 2005, has been won by Australia three times, but not since 2010.
