We can still go all the way, claims Joeys skipper Teague

Hope springs eternal for the Joeys going into Saturday morning’s (AEDT) vital FIFA U-17 World Cup clash against Nigeria, with skipper Ryan Teague predicting Trevor Morgan’s side can still burrow deep into the tournament.

Ryan Teague

Source: Getty Images

With just a single point from their opening two Group B games against Ecuador and Hungary, Australia must take something from the Super Eagles clash to stay in the hunt to progress to the round of 16 as one of the four best performing third placed finishers.

Victory over a side already through to the knock-out stages would ensure safe passage, and Sydney FC midfielder Teague has no doubt the Joeys will progress - one way or another.

“It’s a big game but we’re going to be well prepared,” he said. “We’re simply aiming to win and that puts us through.

“If we do that, the boys will be stoked - but we want to take it further and go to the final and win it. That’s our main goal in this tournament.

“We all share the same mindset that we can go far in this tournament.

“We might have had some unlucky results go against us but that hasn’t changed our belief in ourselves.”

The Joeys have been up against it after conceding early goals in the 2-1 loss to Ecuador and 2-2 draw with Hungary.

But they played their way back into both games to finish strongly.

“We’ve shown great fight and determination and against Hungary we ended up being totally dominant and were a bit unlucky not to come away with all three points,” said Teague.

A controversial call to rule out a Noah Botic effort did Australia no favours in that match, but Teague isn’t dwelling on perceived injustices.

Instead, he’ll play his part in in galvanizing a team which has shown glimpses of what it is capable of.

The Nigerians may aid Australia’s cause by resting key players having already qualified for the next phase.

“We’re all ready to put in a big shift for whatever team they put out against us,” added Teague.

“They’ve got the most points on the board but I don’t know if I’d (necessarily) call them the best team in the group. We’ll find that out in the game tomorrow.

“We’ve done our homework on them and we know they’re quick and physical but we’ve got to implement a plan which will hopefully break them down.

“If we start as we finished against Hungary we’ll be able to hold a lot of possession.

“We’ll need to be ruthless in front of goal and not be lazy at the back.”

Morgan and his coaching staff have been working tirelessly on tactics, trying to plug the gaps which have made Australia vulnerable early on.

“We need to up our concentration levels having copped four goals in the first 20 minutes of both games,” said Teague.

“If we can fix up that area then I think we’ll be fine. We’ve been getting better with each game, and I think that was evident against Hungary.

“We’ve developed cohesion as a team and the further we go in this tournament the better we’ll get.

“We believe we can beat any team here.”


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3 min read
Published 1 November 2019 4:05pm
By Dave Lewis

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