The Young Socceroos kick-started their AFC Under-20 Asian Cup campaign thanks to a Adrian Segecic brace and their head coach expects his team to get better.
Stacked with Isuzu UTE A-League talent, the Young Socceroos bounced back from an opening-game loss to Vietnam with a 3-2 victory against Iran.
Sydney FC’s Segecic was the hero thanks to his two-goal haul after Aidan Simmons’ eighth-minute opener in Uzbekistan.
Western Sydney Wanderers forward Simmons broke the deadlock – on hand to tap home at the back post before Segecic doubled the lead 16 minutes later when he curled a sublime free-kick into the net.
The Young Socceroos led 2-1 at half-time after Amirreza Eslamtalab’s volley reduced the deficit but Australia restored their two-goal cushion as Segicic struck his second of the game within minutes of the restart.
Iran’s Alireza Enayatzadeh was on target 10 minutes from the end but the Young Socceroos held firm to keep their hopes of a top-two finish alive in Group B.
“It was what was needed (the result) and I think Iran put up a great fight today,” Australia coach Trevor Morgan said afterwards, with Qatar next up in Tuesday’s final Group B contest.
“I believe we deserved to prevail, and while not everything was perfect we did enough to win and expect to improve before the next match.”
Image source: Football Australia
