by grinner
U21 Confederations Cup 2019
Australia – The Road to Victory
Ok well let’s not get carried away here, but we were drawn into a group that was filled with hazards from the powerful Canadians to Panama who had a major impact on our senior squad in the last competition. To round out the tricky trio is the unknown entity that is Vietnam and Ecuador who have already shown their ability by defeating us in a friendly 1-0.
This is not going to be an easy run for us but with old hand Mrutgers09 by my side, I have every confidence in our abilities to make an impact on this tournament.
Game 1
Vietnam Vs Australia
Not the easiest of starts but not a bad way to ease into the water and the Vietnamese put up a fair amount of resistance before finally succumbing to our boys. Its was Neville Burmeister who got the ball rolling after 8 minutes but the home team played well and kept everything tight until half time with the score remaining the same. In the 57th minute Hines doubled the lead and things began to look comfortable but there was no time to settle as only 6 minutes later the Vietnamese bagged their first to keep them within reach. Burmeister was taken off and the rejuvenated front pairing of Hines and Boyce paid dividends shortly afterward as Hines took a beautiful chance to put us 2 goals to the good again. Once again though the plucky Vietnamese side came back and made the score 2-3, setting up a very tense final 10 minutes. With the home team throwing everything at us, it gave Arneil Boyce the space he needed to bag his first goal of the tournament in injury time and put the result beyond doubt.
Game 2
Australia Vs Ecuador
As I mentioned before, Ecuador had already beaten us 0-1 in a warm up game for this tournament so we knew going into this that was not going to be easy. Things started off well with Hines smashing home one of his first chances after 23 minutes to put us where we wanted to be but great play from the visitors meant Danny De La Rosa found the space to level on the half hour mark, and then deftly slide a second past a struggling Panetta to line our boys up for a good half time screaming at. Something must have worked in that dressing room as Hines levelled only 6 minutes into the second half and 10 minutes later Burmeister put us back in the lead.
The visitors made a swath of substitutions shortly after and it only took Guerrero 4 minutes of field time before he levelled the game once again with a stunning finish. Both teams were looking for a hero, and with 12 minutes left we got one. Pearce Hines stepped up for us once again and hammered home what turned out to be the winning goal despite intense pressure from the away side right up until the final whistle.
Game 3
Canada Vs Australia
This was it, the game against group favourites, Canada. A win would see us through but anything else would leave us in the mire, still struggling for qualification. If there was anytime we needed the boys to step up, then this was it.
In what turned out to be a very tense and tight game, played out in the middle of the park, the heroes emerged in the forms of Mack Hunter, who bagged the vital goal and Steve Panetta who managed to keep his first clean sheet of the tournament making 11 saves for the game. Even with the incredible pressure the Canadians put onto us looking for an equalizer, our backline stood strong and we emerged winners, qualifying for the knockout stages.
Game 4
Australia Vs Panama
At the time of printing we still have one final hurdle to cross, and finally have our time to hand out some revenge on the Panamanians. It will be another tough game and will determine who we play in the next round so tune in and cheer our boys home.
aussiezone 