The Subway Young Socceroos take on Kyrgyz Republic to open their AFC U-20 Asian Cup China 2025™ campaign on Wednesday evening, looking to make a positive start to the tournament.
Australia has been drawn into Group A and will face Kyrgyz Republic (12 February), Qatar (15 February) and China PR (18 February).
The tournament – which serves as qualifying for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Chile 2025™ – will see the top four teams advance to the U-20 showpiece FIFA event. The Aussies will be aiming to reach that tournament for the first time since 2013.
Sebastian Esposito, Frans Deli and Alex Badolato spoke about the team's approach and the importance of getting on the front foot, while discussing head coach Trevor Morgan's positive influence on the group and the values and philosophy he has instilled in the squad.
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What they said
Trevor Morgan
On the approach
I think if you don't take risks, you don't win. So there's a thing about positive mistakes. So when you back yourself, when you try to play a pass and when you see a moment to press, then there are risks we have to take, and the team has to support that. So the structure and the way in which we work as a unit has to allow individual players to take those risks.
Otherwise, if you only play by numbers and only play by a rotation, then for sure the analysis is easy. But now, when we take one player out, put another player in he has a different quality, he still understands what his role is. He still understands how he has to press and how he has to work defensively. But then with the ball, he makes a different choice. We need to make sure the element is part of how we play.
What qualifying for the FIFA U-20 World Cup would mean for the country
I think the Australian public need to respect the quality of these kids, and the only way that's going to happen is for them to perform. They've got to prove their point. They're very good players, and it's very easy to talk about what's wrong with the game, what's not happening. There are some very talented boys here, and it's important for them to win as a group, but individually show who they are because part of this journey is actually becoming a Socceroo.
And regardless of whether the team is Asian champions or not, there needs to be a number of these players that trickle forward to the Olyroos and the Socceroos in the next few years, and the way they do that, ideally is winning together as a team. And secondly, showing who they are, and it's important the Australian public start to get excited about young players coming through.
Alex Badolato
Build up to the first match
Everything's been really good leading into the Kyrgyz Republic game. The analysts have given us all the information that we need, so we know what style of football we're going to play against them, and how we should approach that first game. So I think it's been really detailed leading up to the first game, which has been important for us to know what we're going to do out there on the pitch.
I think our opponents are going to be really strong defensively. They're going to be able to sit in, give us a lot of the ball, but also close off a lot of space and force us to be patient on the ball. And then in attack, I think they're going to be pretty strong on the counter attack, look to catch us in behind. So we're going to have to be aware. Our defenders are going to have to be aware, and our whole team is going to have to be aware that as soon as we lose the ball, we need to be ready for a counter attack.
Trevor Morgan's philosophy and playing with freedom
It's a really positive philosophy, as the other boys have said. I think it allows all our strengths as players to be showcased at the same time in attack and defence. I think he allows a lot of freedom with the ball for us to make our own decisions and express ourselves in the attacking third, and with some of the talent we have, I think that's been really helpful over the past two and a half years.
And then in defence, he's also given us a clear structure that we're all pretty aware of now. We all know (the defensive structure) like the back of our hand, after all these games now. So I think it's a really positive structure as a team, and I think it gives players a lot of freedom, while also giving them clear ideas about the way we want to play and how we're going to win games against each opposition.
Sebastian Esposito
Taking it one game at a time
We spoke about this in Portugal. I mean it'd be false to say that we don't think about it [qualifying for FIFA U-20 World Cup Chile 2025™]. But again, if we look too far ahead into the future, we overlook the short term, then maybe we get ahead of ourselves too much. So for us, it's more about managing the controllables and maximising the short term to end up reaching our goals in the long term.
Key messages from Trevor Morgan
Trevor's a very positive manager. We've been saying it since day one. We always want to play forward-thinking [football], so every action is to go forward and be positive. We kind of developed that from Portugal through to Marbella. I know the boys went on some other camps here around Asia. So Trevor's very much instilling in us a positive mindset, and to try to play on the front foot, rather than let teams come to us, we go and take the game to them. So that's the main idea behind our playing style.
Frans Deli
Representing Australia at a major tournament
It's always an honour to wear the Australian badge. It's the best feeling, to be honest, putting on that shirt. And just being around the boys just gets us all back together. Feels amazing and I can't wait to play together as well.
Form with Macarthur
I've been very happy with the way I'm going at Macarthur. Obviously, I made my debut in November. And just having a few consecutive starts is really pleasing for me, and hopefully I can go back there and continue my form and even throughout the tournament here. So I've been very happy with the way I'm going.
Match Schedule
Subway Young Socceroos v Kyrgyz Republic
Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Bao’an Sports Centre Stadium, Shenzhen
Kick-off: 5.15pm Local / 8.15pm AEDT
Qatar v Subway Young Socceroos
Saturday, 15 February 2025
Shenzhen Youth Football Training Base Centre Stadium, Shenzhen
Kick-off: 5.15pm Local / 8.15pm AEDT
China PR v Subway Young Socceroos
Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Bao’an Sports Centre Stadium, Shenzhen
Kick-off: 7.30pm Local / 10.30pm AEDT