Australia are now well placed to progress to next year’s AFC U-16 Championship following last night’s win and also the late withdrawal of East Timor from the preliminary competition.

The Qantas Joeys will complete their preliminary qualifying matches on Friday against DPR Korea with two of thee teams to progress.

First half goals from Marc Warren and Eli Babalj secured the win in the first competitive international match for the current generation of Qantas Joeys.

Warren captained the side in he absence of injured skipper Brendan Hamill and opened the scoring in the 14th minute when his speculative shot from the left flank deceived the goalkeeper.

Babalj doubled the advantage on the half-hour when he swooped on a loose ball after the goalkeeper has spilt a shot on goal.

The group matches will be completed on Sunday when Malaysia face DPR Korea.

Australia defeated the Singapore U-15 national team 1-0 in a practice match earlier in the week courtesy of a second half goal from Tedros Yabio.


The Qantas Joeys squad is:
Eli Babalj (State - WA), Chris Bush (ACT), Million Butshiire (WA), Cameron Edwards (WA), Nick Fitzgerald (NSW), Petar Franjic (VIC), Brendan Hamill (NSW), Kamal Ibrahim (VIC), Ben Kantarovski (NNSW), George Klappas (NSW), Robert Kolak (NSW), Jared Lum (NSW), Mitchell Mallia (NSW), Joel Miller (SA), Chahine Noujaim (SA), Trent Sainsbury (WA), Nikola Stanojevic (NSW), Nick Tubbs (QLD), Marc Warren (NSW), Tedros Yabio (VIC)

Qantas Joeys Fixtures:
Mon 15 Oct v Singapore U15, Singapore Sports School, 7.30pm kick off local time
Wed 17 Oct Australia v Malaysia, Jalan Besar Stadium, 7pm kick off local time
Fri 19 Oct v DPR Korea, Jalan Besar Stadium, 7pm kick off local time