The Australian U20 squad’s World Cup campaign took a major stumble on Wednesday night in Colombia.
Having got out of jail with a last minute Tommy Oar free-kick against Ecuador on Sunday night, the Young Socceroos weren’t so lucky against a Costa Rican outfit that had been thrashed by group leaders Spain.
The Central Americans played with flair, and in Joel Campbell they have a player who looks like a star of the future. But it was sloppy Australian defending that made the difference. Campbell taking advantage of a lack of tackles for his first goal, and a lack of marking for his second, then John Ruiz was left free to head home from a corner midway through the second half.
The Socceroos had their fair share of attacking flair – with Mustafa Amini, Tommy Oar, Bernie Ibini-Isei and Kerim Bulut all causing problems for the Costa Ricans.
The spirit of the Aussies certainly couldn’t be doubted either, coming from behind twice, with goals from Oar (who scored his second of the tournament with a neat flick) and an own goal resulting from Ibini-Isei’s neat cross. Unfortunately, the old adage of a team being most vulnerable just after it has scored was proved true with Australia conceding goals within a couple of minutes of each equaliser, ultimately going down 3-2.
In order to progress, Ecuador and Costa Rica need to draw, while Australia has to beat tournament favourites Spain in the final group games.
