Aussie goalkeeper instant hero as Young Socceroos claim victory

The Young Socceroos are champions of Asia for the first time with a thrilling penalty shootout* victory against Saudi Arabia in the U20 Asian Cup final in Shenzhen, China.

Goalkeeper Steven Hall became the nation’s newest footballing hero, etching himself into soccer folklore* by pulling off a one-handed save on the final penalty of the shootout to secure the title.

The scores were locked at one-all after the regulation 90 minutes, and they remained the same after 30 minutes of extra time.

Louis Agosti, who came into the starting line-up as one of three changes made by manager Trevor Morgan, was Australia’s lone goal scorer with a superb volley to open the scoring in the 24th minute.

The Saudi defenders failed to properly clear an Australian free kick that was whipped into the penalty area, and the ball fell to Agosti outside of the box, who struck a low volley across the goal and into the far corner of the net.

Scores were level heading into half time, however, as a Talal Abubakr Haji header got past Hall.

But Australia were the better of the two teams in the second half, and in extra time, but did not capitalise* on several opportunities and were perhaps a little unlucky with the referee not pointing to the spot when substitute Tiago Quintal was brought down in the box.

When it got to the shootout, the Australian teenagers showed nerves of steel to convert a perfect five from five.

Saudi Arabia were flawless* on their first four attempts too, but Hall, who is on the books at Premier League club Brighton, heroically* denied them.

Australia’s Alex Badolato was awarded player of the tournament for a stellar* campaign where the Western Sydney Wanderers midfielder scored twice and provided three assists.

Badolato was one of 16 players in the tournament squad of 23 who are with A-League clubs, while the other seven play their club football in Europe or England.

The Young Socceroos will now turn their focus towards the FIFA U20 World Cup in Chile* in September and October, which they qualified for by making the semi-finals of the U20 Asian Cup.

It will be the first time Australia has taken part in the premier global tournament for male teenagers since 2013.

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GLOSSARY

• penalty shootout: a way of deciding the result of a game that has ended in a draw. Players from each team try to score a goal in turn until one player fails to score and their team loses the game
• Saudi Arabia: an Islamic kingdom in southwest Asia and the largest country in the Arabian Peninsula
• folklore: legends, myths and fables
• capitalise: take advantage of certain conditions or of a particular thing or event
• flawless: perfect, without any faults or mistakes
• heroically: courageously, bravely
• stellar: excellent, outstanding, of a higher standard, the best quality
• Chile: long, narrow country situated along the western seaboard of South America

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QUICK QUIZ

1. How many times have the Young Socceroos won the Asian Cup before now?
2. How did goalkeeper Steven Hall etch himself into soccer folklore?
3. Who scored the single goal for Australia?
4. Who was named player of the tournament?
5. When was the last time Australia qualified for the FIFA U20 World Cup?

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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Young Socceroo win
Complete a Y chart to describe what goalkeeper Steven Hall would have seen, felt and heard while defending the shots at goal in the penalty shoot out.

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
Why is an Australian team winning an U20 international tournament good news for our soccer future?

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Exercise the body and the mind
Exercise is not only important for the body, but it’s a lot of fun as well. Let’s bring more exercise into classroom learning by creating a VCOP PE game.

You can add a VCOP challenge to pretty much any game, and it’s a great way to encourage the teacher to let the class play more games.

Here is an example to get you started, then you create one of your own.

VCOP dodgeball
The normal rules of dodgeball apply. Two teams throw soft balls at each other and if you get hit, you have to sit out. The team who knocks out all the players on the other team, wins.

VCOP challenge: when you get eliminated, collect a mini-whiteboard and a basic clause from the sidelines. Up-level the sentence (make it better) by adding VCOP. When you show the teacher your completed sentence, you can return to the game.

Play for a set amount of time and the team with the most players left on the court wins.

Support: use the “Up-Level It” card set – players have to complete one card from the set instead of completing all VCOP challenges.

What can you come up with?