U.17 Vietnam crosses the great Australian mountain, begins journey to conquer the World Cup

How strong is U.17 Australia?

The appeal of a ticket to the 2025 U.17 World Cup has made teams prepare very carefully before the U.17 Asian Cup. U.17 Australia is no exception. They participated in a very high-quality international friendly tournament with strong opponents such as U.17 Oman, Saudi Arabia and South Korea. The young boys from the land of kangaroos showed that they are strong candidates for the U.17 Asian Cup championship when they continuously brought convincing performances. In the first match, U.17 Australia was not really united, so they only had a 1-1 draw with U.17 Oman. But then, they quickly asserted their class with 2 consecutive victories against Saudi Arabia (4-0) and South Korea (2-1) to win this friendly tournament.

Under the guidance of coach Brad Maloney, U.17 Australia has a clear style of play, attacking from the home field, mainly making short and medium passes. They also have a strong play style of the central midfielder passing the ball or passing the ball to the wingers to run up and then cross it inside for the striker to finish. In addition, U.17 Australia also has a formidable weapon: free kicks. Of the total 7 goals they scored in the recent friendly tournament, 3 goals came from direct free kicks on the edge of the penalty area. Therefore, U.17 Vietnam defenders need to be cautious and limit fouls near the 16m50 box.

U.17 Vietnam crosses the great Australian mountain, begins journey to conquer the World Cup - Photo 1.

The U.17 Vietnam players are always determined in every training session to be ready to face strong opponents, PHOTO: VFF

The Australian U17s have a clear style of play based on a well-balanced squad. At the same time, they also have stars who can turn the tide of a match. Most notably, central midfielder Haine Eames, who is valued at 125,000 euros by Transfermarkt . His "capital" before the 2025 AFC U17 Championship is 18 appearances, scoring 2 goals and 2 assists in the Australian national championship and 5 appearances in the AFC Champions League Elite this season for Central Coast Club.

Quinn MacNicol is also a player to watch. He was the top scorer of the 2024 Southeast Asian U16 tournament, played a major role in helping the Australian U16 team win the championship and played 3 matches in the national championship for Brisbane Roar.

U.17 Vietnam crosses the great Australian mountain, begins journey to conquer the World Cup - Photo 2.

Coach Roland

High balls can also be the tactic that U.17 Australia will apply. This team has an average height of 1.79 m, among the top 5 tallest teams in the tournament. Meanwhile, the average height of U.17 Vietnam is only 1.74 m. Therefore, goalkeeper Hoa Xuan Tin (1.87 m tall) of U.17 Vietnam needs to always focus, enter and exit effectively, and make good judgment so that U.17 Australia cannot take advantage of his height.

Overall, U.17 Australia is strong, but U.17 Vietnam is not without a chance to win. In the field of youth football, surprises often happen. Moreover, in direct confrontations between youth teams, Vietnamese boys have defeated Australia many times.

U.17 Vietnam also had good preparation. The young players trained domestically for a long time, trained for a week in Oman and once defeated U.17 Oman with a score of 1-0. Therefore, coach Roland's students are very confident. Captain Le Huy Viet Anh affirmed: "We are not afraid of any opponent". Meanwhile, midfielder Dau Hong Phong is determined: "The whole team is united to aim for victory against U.17 Australia. We always want to win all 3 points in every match". Those are the reasons to believe that U.17 Vietnam is capable of creating an earthquake in the opening match of the 2025 AFC U-17 Championship and getting closer to a ticket to the World Cup.

U.17 Vietnam crosses the great Australian mountain, begins journey to conquer the World Cup - Photo 3.