Western Sydney Wanderers duo inspire Joeys’ winning start at U16 tournament

The Subway Joeys kicked off their Hohhot U16 Tournament campaign with a 2-1 win over Vietnam.

Western Sydney Wanderers pair Johnny Pavlovic and Jordan Owusu fuelled the come-from-behind win courtesy of quick-fire goals in China on Wednesday.

With an eye on November’s AFC Under-17 Asian Cup qualifiers, the Joeys are taking part in a round-robin format tournament in China, where 19 of the 23-player squad are based in the Isuzu UTE A-League.

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Midweek, Western United sensation Besian Kutleshi captained the Joeys in a starting XI that also boasted Henrique Oliviera (Macarthur Bulls), Luke Becvinovski (Melbourne City), Akol Akon (Western Sydney Wanderers), Winston Ashburner (Western United), Aston Reid (Sydney FC), Sajjad Nasiri (Adelaide United) and Marcus Savic (Western Sydney Wanderers).

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Then, Pavlovic and Owusu came off the bench to inspire the comeback victory – Pavlovic equalised in the 75th minute before Owusu put Australia ahead two minutes later.

Next up for Brad Maloney’s Joeys is a showdown with Saudi Arabia on Friday.

Featured image: Football Australia