The samba drums may have been pounding but it was the Young Socceroos that danced to the rhythm to defeat Brazil 1-0 in the opening game of the SBS Youth Challenge Series. An enthusiastic crowd of 10,000 turned out at Fremantle Oval on the evening of 5 December 1992 to witness Australia take on arguably the world’s greatest footballing nation.
Brazil entered the fixture as favourites, however, they would play second fiddle to a stylish Australian side marshalled by man-of-the-match Tony Carbone. The occasion had a very strong West Australian flavour with Carbone joined in green and gold by his Perth Italia teammates Vince Matassa and Marc Wingell plus Floreat Athena attacker Vas Kalogeracos.
“It was a disciplined performance and we stuck rigidly to our game plan,” said Young Socceroos coach Les Scheinflug following the first of the four-game friendly series. “We kept them under pressure in the first half and our defence coped magnificently when the Brazilians tried to get back into the game.”
“This kind of result would have been unthinkable a few years ago. We would have been so much in awe of teams like Brazil that they would virtually have started two-up. But our young players have shown in recent years around the world that we can now hold our heads high in international competition.”
Matassa, who would have a relatively quiet night between the posts, was given an early scare when Wingell’s mis-directed header threatened to give Brazil the lead. Play was quickly spirited to the opposite end where Kalogeracos was thwarted by goalkeeper Dida, who would go on to make 91 senior international appearances for the Seleção.
Australia set the tone with strong tackling and quick movement of the ball unsettling their opponents. Dida came to Brazil’s rescue again in the 17th minute by spreading himself to deny Kalogeracos, who looked destined to break the deadlock. Brazil, for their part, enthralled the crowd with their clever ball work but failed to match the aggression of their hosts.
Carbone and team captain Kevin Muscat were outstanding at the back, the pair continually driving the Young Socceroos into attack. As half-time approach Australia upped the ante in search of the go-ahead goal. Jim Tsekinis was unable to capitalise on a trio of opportunities while Craig Moore headed over the crossbar from an Ante Moric free-kick.
Scheinflug’s decision to inject Richard Alagich into the action for the second half came with immediate effect. The ball had been in motion just 30 seconds when Kalogeracos threaded through to Jim Tsekinis, who beat two defenders on the left and centred for South Australian teenager Alagich to steer into the net from 5-metres.
Brazil’s best opportunity of the game arrived eight minutes later, substitute Savio bursting through and luring Matassa off his line only to pull his shot across the face of goal. The visitors were starting to see more of the ball but their hopes of getting back on level terms were nullified time and time again by a resilient defensive line featuring Carbone, Moore, Wingell and Muscat.
While both teams showed plenty of skill and desire, it was the Young Socceroos that carved out the better of openings. Moric’s fierce free-kick from distance in the 70th minute was taken at the second attempt by Dida. And the game was close to an end when substitute Nick Radecki stretched Brazil’s defence but his shot was blocked.
1992 SBS Youth Challenge Series
Australia 1 (Richard Alagich 46)
Brazil 0
Australia: Vince Matassa, Craig Moore, Kevin Muscat, Marc Wingell, Peter Tsekenis, Sean Cranney, Ante Moric, Goran Lozanovski (Richie Alagich 46), Anthony Carbone, Vas Kalogeracos (Nick Radecki), Jim Tsekinis (Vasko Trpcevski)
Brazil (squad): Dida, Andre, Wagner, Argel, Juarez, Rodrigo, Pereira, Tomy, Cal Baiano, Gian, Didi, Fabio, Savio, Hermes, Yan, Fabinho
Officials: David Mortimer, Marilyn Learmont, Eddie Lennie, Andy Gorton
The second game of the series took place four days later in Canberra, where Brazil claimed a 2-1 victory. A scoreless draw in Newcastle levelled the series at one win apiece after three games. The teams then headed to Sydney for a 15 December showdown which Brazil won 5-4 on penalties after finishing level at 1-1.
The SBS Youth Challenge Series came in the middle of a hectic twelve-months for the Young Socceroos. The previous March the squad undertook a four-week tour of Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium during which they played nine-games against the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Royal Antwerp and Ajax Amsterdam.
In September Australia placed fourth at the Venezuelan International Tournament. Four wins from five group outings secured a semi-final showdown with Brazil, who again triumphed on penalties, after which the Young Socceroos succumbed to Chile in the minor place play-off. Three post-tournament games awaited in Uruguay and Chile.
After the four-game SBS Youth Challenge Series with Brazil, the Young Socceroos played a trio of friendlies with South Korea on the eastern seaboard. In an unending quest for match fitness, Australia almost immediately embarked on a three-week tour of the middle east where they faced Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates plus a game in Hong Kong on the way home.
Those experiences proved invaluable when Australia hosted the 1993 World Youth Championship in March. The Young Socceroos opened their campaign in the best possible way, defeating Colombia 2-1 followed three days later by a 3-1 win over Russia to secure their place in the knock-out stage. Their final group fixture was a 0-2 loss to Cameroon.
Carbone made history in the quarter-finals by scoring the world’s first extra-time golden goal to steal Australia a 2-1 win over Uruguay (view highlights of the game). La Celeste had taken the lead midway through the first half only for Paul Agostino to level proceedings just after the hour. 100 minutes were on the clock when Carbone headed in Jim Tsekinis’ centre from the right.
The round of four pitted the Young Socceroos against an all too familiar foe in the form of Brazil, who scored twice in the final twelve minutes to progress 2-0. Australia had to settle for fourth overall after bowing to England 2-1 in a third-place play-off watched by a crowd of 40,015 at the Sydney Football Stadium. Brazil lifted the trophy by defeating Ghana 2-1 in the final.
