Poor start to the Young Socceroos World Cup campaign

If this Young Socceroo team is the most talented in years, then I’d hate to see one perceived as run of the mill.

The Australians opening game at the Under 20 World Cup against Ecuador made for poor viewing with the team escaping with a 1-1 draw thanks only to one of the most outrageously brilliant goals in Socceroo history.

Tommy Oar’s late free kick saved what was in reality a deplorable evening for the Australians who were outplayed from the start and created few opportunities.

It was Ecuador’s game to win and it was a genuine mystery how they weren’t up by a couple of goals by the time Oar struck his free kick with a minute to go in regulation.

The names that comprise this edition of the young Socceroos are individually impressive, however based on this morning’s performance, look collectively a look a long way off the requisite international standard.

For all the talk of the Australians playing a more sophisticated, possession orientated game, the truth is Australia’s youth teams appear incapable of living up to the rhetoric.

Instead of bringing the ball out of defence competently and with structure, the Young Socceroos appeared petrified of coughing the ball up, which they inevitably and repeatedly did.

Far from advocating a long ball approach, one wonders whether they would have been better served with anything other than the panicked delegation which prevailed in defence throughout the opener.

To be fair, Australia’s injured Captain Ben Kantarovski seemed calm, composed and committed to a more responsible role prior to being subsituted. Beside him, Dimitri Petratos got better and more influential as the game progressed.

Mustafa Amini on the other hand seemed out of position and lifeless. He was subbed off in just the 55th minute having hardly touched the ball. Kofi Danning drifted in and out of the game while if Tommy Oar hadn’t scored the equaliser and covered himself in so much glory, his game could have been interpreted as poor and scattered as well.

Up front Kerem Bulut looked sharp, though starved of opportunities. When Bernie Ibini joined him in attack, a buoyancy and unpredictability emerged.

Coach Jan Versleijen's second substitute, Sydney FC’s Terry Atonis looked good, and in combination with club teammate Petratos, provided the impression the Australians still had a pulse where the middle of the park was concerned.

These youth World Cup and continental tournaments are of serious importance to soccer in Australia. They’re the product of a lot of planning, the result of a lot of money and the recipient of an enormous allocation of intellectual resources.

Indeed it's these tournaments which work as the sport's debutant ball showcasing to both the soccer and wider sporting world just what the youth ranks have to offer.

In Colombia, our darling stumbled onto to the dance floor, seemingly drunk and with lipstick smudged all over her face.

Again, if not for Oar’s sublime goal, the embarrassment would have been total, rather than partial.

If there is a consolation, apart from salvaging an improbable draw, it’s that the Australians have two more games to make up for the poor showing against Ecuador.

That opportunity will arrive Thursday against Costa Rica, themselves reeling from a 4-1 rout at the hands of Spain.

A win by the Australians would indeed have them back on course, however a game played in the same manner as their debut will surely result in an early exit.

When and if this young team sobers up, they’ll have some serious questions to ask of their performance and overall philosophy.

Hopefully Oar’s freakish goal won’t mask some of the serious questions that must be addressed.