Australia’s 2023 AFC Under-17 Asian Cup journey and hopes of securing a berth at the upcoming U17 FIFA World Cup were dashed at the hands of Japan in the quarter-final.
Reigning champions Japan were too good for the Joeys, who saw off Brad Maloney’s side 3-1 at the Patham Thani Stadium in Thailand to book their place in the final four on Monday.
Japan opened up a two-goal lead within the opening 25 minutes through Gaku Nawata and Yutaka Michiwaki, before Nestory Irankunda pulled one back after half-time to set up a grandstand finish.
Australia continued to mount pressure on their opponents, but were unable to find the all-important equaliser as Rento Takaoka scored the sealer to end the Joeys’ hopes of returning to the world stage.
“At the end of the day, we were beaten by a better team on the day,” Maloney told reporters post-game.
“I can’t fault my players work ethic and they gave everything that they have but we realised that we were playing against a powerhouse of Asian football, a country which invests heavily in youth development.
“Very experienced squad that we played against and I’m proud of my players, 100% proud of my players but at the end of the day we were beaten by a better side.
“The opposition have vast experience in numerous international friendlies and they invest heavily in youth development and you can see that today… You can see how Japan were superior throughout the match.”
Samurai Blue – who have now qualified for the upcoming World Cup in Indonesia – will now face Iran in the semi-final on Thursday night, where they will face either South Korea or one of Saudi Arabia or Uzbekistan in the final on Sunday – should they advance.
As a result, Australia will miss out on the World Cup for the first time since 2017, having failed to qualify for successive iterations since they did so four consecutive times between 1999-2005.
Since then, they have only qualified three times in 2011, 2015 and 2019, missing out on four incarnations in the last 18 years.
“It’s always a shame that the players miss out on the World Cup, miss out on more international exposure at a higher level, which is what these kids really need,” Maloney said.
“So that’s a bit of a disappointment but by the same token, I’d like to think that the majority of these players will graduate to the national under twenties team at least.”
The Joeys were immediately on the back foot against the three-time champions as Japan took the lead at the 10-minute mark. A long throw caught the Australia defence off guard and allowed for Nawata to bundle the ball past Bayern Munich-bound goalkeeper Anthony Pavlesic for the opener.
Soon after, Japan made the Joeys pay again, but this time via a long ball and swift attack down the left flank, which found its way through to Yutaka Michiwaki who buried his fourth goal of the campaign.
Maloney’s charges had incredibly more of the ball at half-time with 54% possession, but had failed to have a single shot on target, compared to Japan’s eight.
However, a double substitution at the break, which saw the introduction of both Peter Antoniou and Nathan Amanatidis provided the much-needed inspiration in the final third for the Aussies as they chased down a two-goal deficit.
AMANATIDIS: Emulating Cristiano Ronaldo & becoming the ‘next one’ at Adelaide: Meet the Joeys super-sub
After a sustained period of Aussie pressure, Irankunda got in behind the Japan defence and slotted a much-needed goal to bring the Joeys right back into the contest.
Their comeback would be short-lived as just over 10 minutes later, Takaoka slotted Japan’s third to round out the victory and book their place in the semis.
MATCH DETAILS
Japan 3-1 Australia
Patham Thani Stadium
Featured image: Asian Football Confederation 2023 (AFC)
KEEPUP followed along LIVE to bring you rolling updates and the biggest talking points from Japan v Australia: the Joeys’ quarter final clash at the AFC U17 Asian Cup in Thailand. Re-live the action via the matchday live blog.
