The Australian boys and girls sides have embarked on a 20-day tour of 10 games each against English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish opposition.

Both the male and female teams have started strongly, with the boys beating England Independent Schools 4-1 and Bristol College 3-1, and the girls defeating their female equivalents 4-0 and 2-0.

The two teams had a three-day training camp in Sydney before leaving overseas, with their shirts presented to them by Paul Wade and Alen Stajcic.

Dean Stafrace, coach of the schoolboys squad, said his hope is to win all of the international games. Two years ago the Australian schoolboys were undefeated in their UK tour.

"The boys have gelled really well,” he told FourFourTwo.

"In the first 10 minutes we were out on feet [against England], so once we started to settle and gain a bit of composure we implemented what our game-plan was. Then it was really just a game of patience and strategy in the first 30 minutes until we started to open them up.

"In the second half we identified a lot of areas in weakness in their team. We played Bristol the day after, 24 hours later. The boys were a bit sore and tired, but I thought we dominated them and played really well. We tried a few things as it was a practice match.

"We put our stamp on the first game with a 4-1 win, but we can't take the other games too lightly."



Stafrace said there have been scouts from Derby, Fulham and Aston Villa at the matches looking at his players. He nominated the likes of Jake Trew, Zac Duncan and Alex Gollan as ones to watch.

"Zack's been phenomenal," Stafrace said.

"He plays as a 6. He's very good with his feet, very calm and collected on the ball. Oliver is a 10, he's very mobile between the lines. A very aggressive football. Jake's a solid boy up front, he's a striker. He's very good at holding the ball up. He's scored two goals in two games.

"Nathan Phillips is a very good 6, he's our captain. He's probably the steam engine of the team. Trevor Schumali, he's a very good winger. He's already caught the eye of some of the scouts. We've got good depth in the quad."

David O'Keefe, coach of the school girls team, said he has two targets for the Uk trip. He wants his team to go through undefeated and to play their style of football that is similar to the Matildas.

"The goal is to perform as best we can," O'Keefe said.

"We want to try and play our similar style to the Matildas, which is a quick, moving pass and move game where everybody contributes. We try to be positive and get it forward at every opportunity, allow them to express themselves. We try to get the ball back quickly."

O'Keefe said the first match against England Independent Schools was a scrapy affair depsite the 4-0 victory, but his team performed better in their second match against Bristol Colleges.

"It was a scrappy game, there was a few nerves," he said.

"We dominated the second half. I thought we played even better against Bristol, we won 2-0. It was a very good game, a very good standard. We spent most of the second half in their half, which was good. The first half was pretty even."



O'Keefe said his co-captains Erin Prindmore and Lisa Cochrane, as well as young midfielder Alice Burke, have impressed.

"They've both been fantastic," he said.

"They've done a great job on and off the field. They've really helped me get the girls believing in each other and working as one. Alice is only 14, she's going to be a special talent. She's got good awareness, good touch, never stops working and running. And she was brought in as a shadow player.

"We had Remy Siemsen who got signed by Sydney FC and Rachel Lowe who got signed by Western Sydney Wanderers. They're both only 16. They were in the squad and had to withdraw late because the clubs wouldn't let them go.

"They are two very good players, they're already Young Matildas. They would have taken the team to another level if they were here. But the girls that have come in, including Alice Burke, have done a great job. So far so good."