Victorian Boys in the fight for a grand final berth at the Boys National Youth Championships.
Victoria’s U14 and U15 boys teams find themselves in the semi-finals of the National Youth Championships on Thursday, September 29 after impressive tournaments.
Football Victoria technical director Boris Seroshtan said he was “quite happy” with the results so far.
“The players, coaches and staff have done a superb job to get this far and play to such a high level,” he said.
“Who knows what will happen in the semi-finals, but the performances have been quite good so far.
“Considering we have had limited time together since the last nationals compared to other states, the football we have produced has been extremely unbelievable.”
Football Australia’s General Manager of Member Federations, former Socceroo and proud Victorian Josh Kennedy was pleased by what he has seen in Coffs Harbour.
“Every state offers something a little bit different in the way they play,” he said.
“There are teams who hold possession, teams that are more direct, and then you see the little key pieces come to life. So far, the talent, standards and ball control has been good.
“There have been a lot of goals as well, which is exciting to see from a striker’s point of view. It's good to see goals being scored and obviously that attacking play coming to life.”
Teams progressing beyond the group stages include:
14-year groups
- Queensland White
- West Australia Black
- Victoria Blue
- Northern NSW Black (best second placed team)
15-year groups
- Queensland White
- West Australia Black
- NSW Metro White
- Victoria Blue
U14
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Semi-Final 4:00pm - Western Australia Black v Victoria Blue - Field 2
Victoria Blue finished their group matches undefeated, winning four matches and drawing one match, while Victoria Green finished sixth overall and Victoria White finished seventeenth.
Victoria White narrowly missed out on a finals spot, losing to Northern NSW 3-0, after the two teams were at a scoreless deadlock at half-time.
Top scorers
- Team Blue: Anthony Didulica has scored three goals so far in the tournament.
- Team Green: Domenic Posterino was the highest scorer with six goals.
- Team White: Edon Ajrovski was the highest scorer with two goals.
U15
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Semi-Final 5:20pm - Queensland White v Victoria Blue - Field 1
All Victorian U15 teams finished second in their pools with Victoria Blue finishing fourth overall and securing a spot in the semi-finals against Queensland.
Boris Seroshtan said it was an “awesome achievement” from all U15 Victorian players to finish with a positive record after the group stages.
Top scorers
- Team Blue: Medin Memeti has scored four goals so far in the tournament.
- Team Green: Marco Juric scored four goals for the tournament.
- Team White: Blessing Harris scored three goals for the tournament.