THE QANTAS Joeys face one of their toughest tests when they meet three time U17 World Cup winners and Group F favourites Brazil tomorrow morning, admits coach Jan Versleijen.
But while facing a Brazil team that won the South American U17 title on their way to this World Cup and inflicted a 3-0 defeat on Denmark in their first match of the tournament appears a daunting prospect, the Joeys still have reason to believe.
A first up win over Côte d'Ivoire has given the Joeys an early foothold in their group, and released any tension that could have been evident if Australia entered the match against Brazil with no points to their name.
Versleijen was relieved more than pleased after his team was second best on the pitch but came out in front omn Tuesday morning, and thinks the result will help to settle his players’ nerves and give them the confidence to take the game up to their more fancied opponents.
“You always like to win your first game in the group and that’s what we did, although the football was not that high from our expectations and I think were a little bit lucky,” Versleijen said.
Typically, Brazil has a squad flourishing with talent, particularly in attack. Striker Ademilson scored twice against Denmark and is sure to provide a handful for Qantas Joeys central defensive pairing Connor Chapman and Tom King, while Brazil has a host of other players able to cut teams apart.
While Versleijen is well aware of the South Americans’ capabilities, he says his team will definitely not let Brazil have it all their own way and is planning to take one, if not three points from the game to guarantee the Qantas Joeys’ passage into the knockout stage.
“I rate Brazil as the strongest team in this group, so that means our players have to step up even more than they did against Côte d'Ivoire,” Versleijen said.
“From what I saw from the Brazilians, they are very smart. Any weaknesses you have in your team, they are able to use it and benefit from it.
“Sometimes they give you the idea that you’re still in the game, but you have to remain alert, so that’s one of our biggest challenges, to concentrate 100 per cent for the whole 90 minutes.
"Of course we like to attack, but attack at the moments we can attack, because if you leave too much space behind, that will be very helpful for Brazil.
“I think Brazil has a good team but if we already knew before the game that Brazil would win, we shouldn’t even bother playing the game. I think we will be a big challenge for Brazil and we will try to give everything we have.
“If you start counting, we already have three points, and to qualify for the next stage we need one more point, so I hope we can achieve that in this game.”
One thing for sure is that Brazil will certainly not be underestimating Australia, if the thoughts of Brazil’s Head Coach Emerson Avila are anything to go by.
The U-17 Seleção boss admitted he was impressed and also taken by surprise by the style of football the Qantas Joeys tried to implement in their first match, saying he had a ‘great respect’ for how Australia tries to play.
Regardless of win, lose or draw tomorrow, Versleijen says each World Cup fixture would continue to be an invaluable experience for his group, and the expectations would continue to rise with each performance.
He added: “Even the games at this stage in the group phase are a big learning situation for our players, and you’re talking about players at 15, 16 and 17 years of age, so I think up to now we’re doing well and also that we can do better and we have to do better.”
Kick-Off is at 3:00pm local time (6:00am AEST) and the game can be seen live on SBS. In the other Group F match, Denmark and Côte d'Ivoire will both be looking to register their first win of the tournament.
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