Written by Thomas Esamie and Martin Tabeira
| In preparation for the U20 World Cup qualifiers for Oceania coach Les Scheinflug arranged for a tour of South America to prepare his squad and give them the kind of competition they are unlikely to see at the qualifiers. Apologies to our Pacific neighbours | ||||
| Played : May 1998 | Venue : unknown | |||
| Chile University lineup unknown Goals : unknown |
3 | - | 2 | Australia lineup unknown Goals : John Maisano, Marco Bresciano |
| Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia) | ||||
| Squad listing | ||||
| Well information on this tour is sketchy at the moment but stay tuned.... | ||||
| Played : 25 May 1998 | Venue : Santiago | |||
| Universidad Catolica lineup unknown Goal : unknown |
1 | - | 1 | Australia lineup unknown Goal : Danny Invincible |
| Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia) | ||||
| Squad listing | ||||
| Well information on this tour is sketchy at the moment but stay tuned.... | ||||
| Played : Who knows? | Venue : Search me | |||
| Union Espanol lineup unknown Goal : unknown |
1 | - | 4 | Australia lineup unknown Goals : Marco Bresciano, Michael Ferrante, Simon Colosimo, Nick Carle |
| Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia) | ||||
| Squad listing | ||||
| Australia now moved on to play their Chilean U20 counterparts in a 2 match series | ||||
| Played : Unknown | Venue : unknown, presumably Santiago | |||
| Chile lineup unknown Goal : unknown |
3 | - | 1 | Australia lineup unknown Goal : Mile Sterjovski |
| Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia) | ||||
| Squad listing | ||||
| So here is game 2 of the series | ||||
| Played : 3 June 1998 | Venue : Santiago | |||
| Chile lineup unknown Goals : 20, 54 |
2 | - | 2 | Australia lineup unknown Goals : Nick Carle 27, Christian Care 42 |
| Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia) | ||||
| Squad listing | ||||
| Australia moved on to Argentina for 2 games, the first against Independiente. | ||||
| Played : | Venue : | |||
| Independiente lineup unknown |
0 | - | 6 | Australia lineup unknown Goal : unknown |
| Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia) | ||||
| Squad listing | ||||
| Australia next faced Boca Juniors on this tour. | ||||
| Played : | Venue : | |||
| Boca Juniors lineup unknown Goal : unknown |
2 | - | 0 | Australia lineup unknown |
| Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia) | ||||
| Squad listing | ||||
| Australia finshed the tour with two games against the Uruguay U20's. | ||||
| Played : 11th June | Venue : Nacional Universitario Field, Montevideo | |||
| Uruguay lineup unknown |
0 | - | 1 | Australia lineup unknown Goal : unknown |
| Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), Victor Pua (Uruguay) | ||||
| Squad listing | ||||
| Australia finshed the tour with two games against the Uruguay U20's. | ||||
| Played : 14th June | Venue : Estadio Charrua, Montevideo | |||
| Uruguay (lineup incomplete)Fernando Machado, Jorge Anchén Goals : Machado, Anchen |
2 | - | 1 | Australia lineup unknown Goal : unknown |
| Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia), Victor Pua (Uruguay) | ||||
| Squad listing | ||||
| Well it was time for Oceania qualifiers and the Young Socceroos were favourites to progress once more. | ||||
| Played : August 15 | Venue : Apia, Western Samoa | |||
| Australia Anthony Breaden, Eddy Bosnar, Danny Invincible (Michael Ferrante 74), Lindsay Wilson, Simon Colosimo, Paul Wearne, Nick Rizzo, Vince Grella, Marco Bresciano (David Terminello 74), John Maisano, Mile Sterjovski (Nick Carle 18) Goals : Rizzo 14, Colosimo 71 |
2 | - | 0 | Fiji lineup unknown |
| Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia) | ||||
| Well it was time for Oceania qualifiers and the Young Socceroos were favourites to progress once more. | ||||
| Played : August 18 | Venue : Apia, Western Samoa | |||
| Australia Brad Swancott, Eddy Bosnar, Danny Invincible (Michael Cunico 80), Lindsay Wilson, Simon Colosimo, Paul Wearne, Nick Rizzo, Vince Grella (David Terminello 30), Marco Bresciano, John Maisano, Mile Sterjovski (Nick Carle 65) Goals : Maisano 13, 44, 66, Sterjovski 34, Wearne 60, Carle 79, 88, Terminello 89 |
8 | - | 0 | Tonga lineup unknown |
| Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia) | ||||
| Well it was time for Oceania qualifiers and the Young Socceroos were favourites to progress once more. | ||||
| Played : August 21 | Venue : Apia, Western Samoa | |||
| Western Samoa lineup unknown |
0 | - | 8 | Australia Anthony Breaden, Danny Invincible, Michael Ferrante, Lindsay Wilson, Simon Colosimo, Paul Wearne, David Terminello, Christian Care (Eddy Bosnar 46), Nicj Carle, Michael Cunico, Adrian Cuzzupe Goals : Terminello 4, Carle 16, Cuzzupe 28, Cunico 41, 46, 55, 59, own goal 76 |
| Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia) | ||||
| Just for a change Australia played New Zealand in the *semi* final, Fiji also won the other semifinal 2-1 against the Solomons to set up a showdown with Australia. | ||||
| Played : August 23 | Venue : Apia, Western Samoa | |||
| Australiaasdet Brad Swancott, Eddy Bosnar, Simon Colosimo, Paul Wearne, Danny Invincible (Adrian Cuzzupe 75), Lindsay Wilson, Marco Bresciano, Michael Ferrante, Nick Rizzo (Michael Cunico 46), John Maisano, Nick Carle Goals : Carle 36, Colosimo 52, Cuzzupe 110 |
3 | - | 2 | New Zealandasdet lineup unknown Goals : 78, 87 |
| Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia) | ||||
| Australia won the final to qualify for the U20's World Cup as the Oceania representative. I just wish it would be possible for the public to have access to more information on these games. | ||||
| Played : August 25 | Venue : Apia, Western Samoa | |||
| Australia Brad Swancott, Eddy Bosnar, Danny Invincible, Lindsay Wilson, Simon Colosimo, Paul Wearne, Nick Rizzo, Marco Bresciano, David Terminello (Michael Ferrante 60), John Maisano (Mile Sterjovski 49), Nick Carle (Michael Cunico 60) Goals : Colosimo 39, 78 |
2 | - | 0 | Fiji lineup unknown |
| Coaches : Raul Blanco (Australia) | ||||