The Pararoos have lost 0-8 to the Netherlands in their opening matcht in the Ukraine International 7-a-side Football Tournament.
The Pararoos have lost 0-8 to the Netherlands in their opening match of the Ukraine International 7-a-side Football Tournament in Yevpatoriya City last night.
The Pararoos went into the match with one of the youngest teams that they have ever taken to a competition of this standard. All other nations in the competition have qualified for the 2012 London Paralympics and are using the completion as an important preparatory event. Acting Head Coach Kai Lammert has been given the task to develop what is hopefully the team that will help Australia qualify for the 2016 Paralympic Games.
Lammert advised his players before kickoff that he was not interested in the score, but more the development of the players themselves and giving them the experience of top international football.
The Pararoos were captained by Chris Pyne who was celebrating his 28th birthday and 73rd cap for Australia.
The Netherlands team came out with all guns blazing and earned their corner of the match in the 1st minute of the game. This corner was deflected by the Australian side and the Netherlands had another corner. The ball was crossed to the back post to be headed back across goals again and was then headed into the back of the net by the Netherlands captain in the 2nd minute of the game.
The 6th minute saw a very sharp save at the near post by Pararoos goalkeeper Chris Barty to prevent the Netherlands from extending their lead.
In the 11th minute some excellent combinations between Michael Debenham and Ben Atkins lead to a ball being crossed in to Connor Marsh who-s shot was brilliantly saved by the Netherlands keeper.
The Netherlands extended their lead in the 14th minute after a volley from 16 yards out by Gerard Arends.
A minute later a Netherlands corner was cut out by Chris Pyne and some quick work with Connor Marsh and Jack Williams, saw the Pararoos make a quick counter attack, unfortunately it was stopped by an experienced Netherlands defence.
The Netherlands made a substitution in the 20th minute after Jeroen Voogd was injured and shortly after extended their lead even further after a quick counter attack and a class finish by Ijas Viskers.
Five minutes later Abel Walraven scored his first of the match for the Dutch to give his team a 4-0 lead going into the break.
The second half started much the same as the first half with the Netherlands attacking the Pararoos from the very kickoff. It didn-t take them long with them extending their lead in the 33rd minute of the match with Ijas Viskers getting his second for the match.
The Pararoos made their first substitution in the 36th minute of the match. Jack Williams is replaced by James Turner and six minutes later their second substitution was made which saw Connor Marsh being replaced by the second youngest member of the team, Robert Christie, to make his international debut for Australia.
In the 46th minute Scott Kennedy returned to the field of play after having to miss the AFC Dream Asia tournament in Abu Dhabi due to the birth of this first child less than a month ago. Scott replaced Western Australian Michael Debenham.
In the 50th minute long shot by Joey Mense of the Netherlands was deflected and wrong footed Barty to see the score extended to 6-0.
Four minutes before full-time the Pararoos made their 4th substitution of the match which saw Brett Fairhall being replaced by Ryan Kinner which meant the line-up boasted three 15 year old players on the field signalling the arrival of a new generation of Pararoos.
Shorty before full-time Abel Walraven scored his second for the match and a minute later completed his hat trick to confirm an 8-0 win for the Netherlands.
After the match Acting Head Coach Kai Lammert said it was a good tactical performance by the side and they fought very hard against a very classy Netherlands team.
“I am proud of the fighting spirit this side has and the never give up attitude of the players.
“This team was bought here to learn and gain experience against the best teams in the world.
“There are areas that we need to improve on which include our transition and being able to keep the control of the ball better.
“Apart from that, there were good performances by Chris Barty, Chris Pyne and Ben Atkins.
“Overall it was a good performance by probably the youngest team ever to represent Australia at this type of tournament,” concluded Lammert.
The Netherlands 8 - 0 Australia Brazil 2 -0 Ukraine Iran 9-0 USA Russia 5-0 Argentina