The Australians scored twice in the opening seven minutes and led 7-0 at halftime, Anthony Proia finishing with four goals.

Jesse Makarounas and Adam Taggart bagged doubles while James Donachie, Paulo Retre, Corey Brown and Jason Geria added singles.

Outgoing coach Jan Versleijen said the game had served as a handy warm-up for the tougher tasks ahead.

"Now the tour really begins with games against the stronger Indonesia and China," he said. "These will be the deciding matches."

The Young Socceroos top group G and next face Indonesia on Sunday at 5pm AEDT.

The top two teams from each group progress to the AFC U-19 Championship 2012.

The AFC U-19 Championship 2012 will serve as the qualifying event for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup, which will be held in Turkey.

A day after Football Federation Australia announced it would split the leadership roles for the AIS and Joeys from the Young Socceroos, Versleijen – who rejected the offer of a two-year contract extension from the ruling body - said the current system was unsustainable for an individual to successfully manage.

Speaking from Malaysia, where he is guiding the under-19s through 2013 U-20 World Cup, Versleijen hinted that his future is in Europe, probably in a club coaching capacity after three and a half years in Australia.

“I actually had three jobs: the AIS, the under-17s and under-20s and while I enjoy working hard and working long days, I felt I had to compromise too often,” Versleijen said.

“It was impossible to do all three jobs 100 per cent, I always had to compromise something.

“It was on my advice that FFA has now split the positions, because it was too much for just one person.”

Versleijen, who guided the U-20 side to the 2009 and 2011 World Cups and the Joeys to the 2011 U-17 FIFA World Cup – where they reached the knock out stages – also took aim at his critics.

Versleijen's main targets were those who question the presence of foreign coaches on the Australia national team landscape and SBS chief football analyst Craig Foster who, he claims, created a divisive atmosphere around the under-17 and under-20 teams.

“I hear every two days the discussion about Australian coaches and foreign coaches,” Versleijen said. “I have not seen that anywhere else where I have worked.

“It should not about where a coach comes from, which skin colour he has or how tall he is, it’s about the quality of the individual.

“If an Australian coach has the quality then let him do the job. Especially with national team coaching you need international experience.

"That’s the reason why Graham Arnold and Ange Postecoglou are doing well at club level because they have that international experience.”

Versleijen claimed Foster was partially responsible for souring the perception of the U-17 and U-20 teams in the eyes of fans and players after he penned several withering critiques of Versleijen's playing style and tactics.

“Craig Foster started a negative atmosphere which wasn’t fair. His objectives were not about reasonable criticism of the players and coach it was about hidden agendas and that’s something I really dislike,” Versleijen said.

“Young players read stuff which didn’t help them at all. It’s a shame when you have people like him who are not helping football in Australia.”

“In my time here, Australia has risen into the top 20 in the world at U-17 and U-20 level and that’s realistic picture of where Australia is on the world map.

“I have taken Australian teams to three World Cups. When I arrived that wasn’t the case but of course there is still a lot of improvement to come and work to be done.

"I believe FFA is heading the right way and it would be nice if football people in Australia all pulled in the same direction.

“But I am pleased that in my time here about 25 players from the AIS have signed A-League contracts. The likes of Terry Antonis, Mustafa Amini, Brendan Hamill and Trent Sainsbury. I feel that has to do with the environment we created for youngsters at the AIS.

“At the U-17 World Cup in Mexico we had the youngest team and almost the youngest team at the U-20 World Cup in Colombia. It’s always been about giving youngsters their chance as early as possible.”

On his future, Versleijen, whose tenure ends on 31 December, said: “I don’t make decisions on having a job I make them on feeling good, not only in the short-term and long-term. I like the idea of the day-to-day involvement of club coaching.

“I don’t feel frustrated or disappointed on the way things have gone but in football you have to make decisions.

“My work with the youth teams has been fantastic. I’ve loved working with the kids.”

After beating Singapore 1-0 in its opening AFC Under-19 championship qualifier in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, Australia faces Macau on Friday, China on 6 November and Indonesia on 8 November.

FFA announced a restructure of the national youth teams coaching set-up with the role of Young Socceroos coach separated from that of Joeys coach and head of the AIS football program.

The governing body has opened the application process for the positions of Young Socceroos coach and coach of Joeys and AIS.

FFA and the AIS will select the candidate for the latter position.

During Versleijen's three years in the Australian set-up, he qualified the youth teams for the 2009 FIFA Under-20 World in Egypt, 2009 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Colombia and the 2011 FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Mexico.

In addition the Young Socceroos were runners-up to DPR Korea at the 2010 AFC Under-19 Championship and the Joeys qualified for the knockout stage of the 2011 FIFA Under-17 World Cup.

It took Spain just over a minute to open the scoring through midfielder Sergi Roberto before striker Alvaro Vazquez went on a scoring rampage with the first of his three goals coming in the sixth minute.

By the 19th minute Vazquez had a hat-trick to leave the Aussies reeling at 4-0.

Kerem Bulut pegged one back for Australia in the 27th minute before Spain hit back soon after with a penalty to playmaker Sergio Canales.

Spain had already qualified for the knockout round and won despite resting several regular starters including Rodrigo, Oriol Romeu, Isco and Cristian Tello.

It was also was also without injured starting goalkeeper Aitor.

With all five goals scored in the first half, Spain finished first in Group C with nine points from three matches while Australia ended the tournament with just one point.

"Six minutes and it's already 2-0. Thirteen minutes it's 3-0 and eighteen minutes it's 4-0. Then you have to play against Spain which is one of the better teams in this World Cup, who are very good at possessing the ball, moving the ball around, a lot of technical skills. After six minutes you can almost say the game is gone," Young Socceroos head coach Jan Versleijen said afterwards.

"It is very obvious that, in the first 15 minutes of this game, especially in the backline, we had some players that were not at a World Cup level.

"And if you're not concentrating and not in the game then against good opposition like Spain you will be penalised straight away.

"The thing is, when you have to play a third game against one of the better teams in this World Cup and you know you have to win this game, you have to also take some risks.

"But Spain took very good advantage of the risk that we had to take in order to put more pressure on them."

Versleijen was full of praise for opponent Spain.

"It is very obvious that Spain has a good team. They play beautiful football and they are a very technical side," he said.

"I think they have a good chance to reach the finals.

"It's difficult to say which team they will possibly meet in the final as I don't know exact cross-overs.

"But from this tournament I see that Nigeria is very strong and also Colombia makes a very good impression."

Despite the early exit, Versleijen is already looking to the next challenge.

"For us the World Cup of course is finished," he said.

"For five of the players here at this World Cup are also eligible for the next World Cup.

"This will start already next week when we go to a preparation tournament in Japan and in October we have the pre-qualifiers in Asia."

A double to Joel Campbell and one to John Ruiz sealed the win for the Costa Ricans, with a Tommy Oar strike and an own goal to Francisco Calvo keeping Australia in the match.

In what was an action-packed opening stanza, three goals were scored in just five minutes.

Costa Rica was on the board first, courtesy of a Campbell goal in the 22nd minute. After losing his footing, the striker recovered with a defensive lapse by Australia allowing him to slot the ball home.

Just as Costa Rica seemed to be gaining in confidence, it was Oar - who scored the crucial equaliser against Ecuador - who brought things level again for the Australians in the 26th minute.

Oar met a Rhyan Grant throw-in with a perfectly-timed run into the box to score his second goal of the tournament.

But the celebrations were short lived by the Young Socceroos. After a quick counter-attack by the Costa Ricans, Campbell struck again only a minute later, his display of beautiful technique volleying the ball into the net to post his brace.

Central Coast Mariners duo Bernie Ibini-Isei and Mustafa Amini were brought on early in the second half and both had an impact immediately.

Amini fired a long-range effort that sailed just over the crossbar but it was Ibini-Isei whose powerful strike deflected off Calvo for the own goal, bringing the Young Socceroos level at 2-2.

But Campbell was on the attack yet again causing all sorts of trouble for the Australian defence, Melbourne Heart's Brendan Hamill doing a superb effort to deny him a third goal.

Moments later however, a precision Campbell corner met a waiting Ruiz in the box who headed home in the 72nd minute for a 3-2 lead to the Costa Ricans.

The loss leaves Australia in third place in the group equal on one point with Ecuador, while Costa Rica jumps to second place behind Spain.

The Young Socceroos face a must-win clash against European powerhouse Spain on Saturday (Sunday AEST) in their final group match.

"I thought we played a very good game but we played naive in certain parts of the game," Young Socceroos coach Jan Versleijen said afterwards.

"And if you make those types of mistakes in this level then you will be penalised for that and that's what we faced today.

"Of course I must have hope (that we can get through to the next stage), but we know know what our target is now. We have to win against Spain."

Mark Birighitti chats to TWG ahead of the Costa Rica match

On the eve of what coach Jan Versleijen described as a "must-win" clash against Costa Rica, Birighitti lamented the one that got away.

“Overall I was happy with my performance against Ecuador, but I was disappointed that I couldn’t hold, or sufficiently push away, the shot that led to the goal,” said Birighitti.

“My goal against Costa Rica is to keep a clean sheet which will go a long way towards us getting the necessary points to progress to the next round.”

Versleijen admitted the Young Socceroos made basic mistakes against Ecuador and said it is imperative to beat Costa Rica to stand a chance of advancing to the second round of the tournament.

“It’s only the second game in the tournament, but it can be a deciding game,” Versleijen said.

“The first game is important not to lose. Because, if you lose, you get more pressure on the second and third games.

“For us, the lesson we learned from our first game is that we have to work harder to keep the ball in the midfield.

“The main point for us is we have to get more control of the midfield which is what we lacked against Ecuador.

“We were lucky enough to get a point against Ecuador and that helped us a lot for the confidence and mood for our next game.

Versleijen warned against writing off Costa Rica, which lost 4-1 to Spain in its opening game, claiming the match was much closer than the scoreline suggests.

"We know Costa Rica played a good game against Spain. They were very close to a draw, but in the end, in the last minutes they got three and then 4-1 against," Verseleijen said.

“What we also know about Costa Rica is that they are a technical, well-organised group, playing a short passing game, who are able to penetrate into the penalty area and who are able to play one-v-one’s.

Versleijen hinted there may be some changes to his starting line-up for the match.

“Until now I haven’t told my line-up to the players so it’s a little difficult to tell here," he said.

“Probably I will make one or two changes to the line-up to the one that started against Ecuador.”

A 24th minute goal from Juan Govea looked likely to give Ecuador a deserved win against a misfiring Young Socceroos outfit in the Group C fixture in Manizares.

However, winger Oar's perfectly executed 30 metre left foot curler in the 89th minute secured a precious point for Australia.

Ecuador manufactured the majority of clear cut chances after its goal as its pace and passing ability caused plenty of problems for the Young Socceroos.

Australian goalkeeper Mark Birighitti kept his team in the game with several fine saves.

Australia's passing inside the Ecuadorian half lacked penetration and its main attacking players rarely threatened.

Midfield playmaker Mustafa Amini struggled to make an impact, while striker Kerem Bulut and wide men Kofi Danning and Oar were also well contained.

Australia's brightest attacking moments came mainly in the first 14 minutes.

It missed a glorious opportunity to hit the front inside the first 30 seconds when Danning blazed over from close range.

Amini shot wide from the edge of the area and Marc Warren had a header pushed away by Ecuador goalkeeper John Jaramillo.

The Ecuadorian goal came after Marcos Caicedo rounded Warren, when his cross from the byline was pushed out by Birighitti and Govea blasted home from close range.

Ecuador then took control and bossed the midfield, manufacturing all the other decent first half opportunities as Birighitti pulled off three fine saves, two of them from close range.

Ecuador also threatened early in the second half, with Govea heading over from a corner and Birighitti saving well from Marlon De Jesus.

Australian coach Jan Versleijen made two early second half changes.

He replaced Amini with his youngest player, 17-year-old midfielder Terry Antonis and striker Bernie Ibini-Isei came on for skipper Ben Kantarovski, who was playing his first competitive match in several months.

Antonis added some spark and Australia looked a little more dangerous in the final third of the game.

Oar dragged a shot wide in the 66th minute and Bulut headed over from a corner 11 minutes later, before Qar produced his equalising shot.

Spain thrashed Costa Rica 4-1 in the other Group C fixture.

The Young Socceroos play Costa Rica on Thursday (AEST) and Spain on Sunday (AEST).

Under the FIFA U-20 World Cup Colombia 2011 regulations, participating teams are able to replace players who are injured up until 24 hours before their opening match. Football Federation Australia made application to FIFA regarding Thomas' injury and received confirmation that permission had been granted to replace him with Scottish-based goalkeeper Nick Feely.

Although it was a difficult decision to make, Versleijen knew that it was in the best interest of the Young Socceroos' campaign.

"Lawrence received a knock at training which resulted in a strain to his left thigh," said Versleijen.

"The team medical staff assessed his injury and determined that it would be at least 2-3 weeks before he would be fit to resume normal training.

"For a World Cup we need to have all our players fully fit and ready, so unfortunately we had to take the decision to withdraw Lawrence now and replace him with another goalkeeper, Nick Feely.

"It is sad to see a player having to leave the camp due to injury so close to the World Cup, but we wish Lawrence a speedy recovery and hope to see him back on the field soon."

Understandably, Thomas was disappointed that an injury has curtailed his FIFA U-20 World Cup campaign.

"It's frustrating to pick up an injury like this at this time, but that's football," said Thomas.

"I'm disappointed, but I understand the decision that's been made and having been involved with the squad so far has given me the motivation to get back as soon as I can.

"Although I won't be there, I'm sure the lads will do well and I'll be cheering them on from home."

Born in Hong Kong but raised in Perth, Western Australia, Feely is currently playing with Celtic in Scotland and will join the Young Socceroos squad on Saturday evening.

The Young Socceroos will play their final friendly training match against fellow FIFA U-20 World Cup finalist England on 22 July in Denver, Colorado and will then travel early next week to the Colombian city of Manizales, situated 2,180m above sea-level, where they will be based the first phase of the tournament.

The Young Socceroos will play their first match of the tournament against Ecuador on Sunday 31 July, and then face Costa Rica on Wednesday 3 August before their final group match against Spain on Saturday 6 August.

Young Socceroos head coach Jan Versleijen gave the bulk of the squad significant game time in the three x 27 minutes match, played in hot conditions at the Regis University Soccer Field.

Although both sides were more concerned with the performance rather than the score, the match began at a fast pace, with the teams trying to adjust to the altitude and pace of the football.

The Koreans had a long-range effort midway through the first third which Young Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Birighitti elegantly tipped over the crossbar. The Young Socceroos best chance of the third came in the 26th minute when Kofi Danning chipped a pass to an unmarked Matthew Fletcher at the far post whose shot brought out a point-blank save from Korean goalkeeper No Dong Geon.

The second third saw only one change to the Young Socceroos line-up with Mustafa Amini coming on for fellow midfielder Jake Barker-Daish.

The deadlock was broken in the 38th minute when Danning beat his defender, got to the goal line inside the box and cut back to Bernie Ibini-Isei at the far post who made no mistake with his shot from close range.

The Young Socceroos had a chance to double the lead two minutes later when a Marc Warren corner from the right found the head of Brendan Hamill who headed back across goal to Dylan McGowan. McGowan flicked the ball towards goal only to see his effort cleared off the line by a Korean defender.

Fletcher had another chance to score in the 49th minute after getting onto the end of a throughball from McGowan. His one-on-one shot was once again well saved by the Korean keeper.

A minute later the Korean’s had a free-kick just outside the Young Socceroos penalty box. Lee Ki Je stepped up and swung a perfectly placed left-footed strike into the top-left corner of the goal, giving the diving Birighitti no chance of saving.

The last third saw both teams make a number of changes to their line-ups which, for the Young Socceroos, included the much anticipated appearance of Ben Kantarovski after his successful recovery from a knee reconstruction. The remainder of the match remained an arm wrestle with both teams threatening but unable to find the back of the net.

After the match, Young Socceroos head coach Jan Versleijen was pleased with his team’s solid first effort at altitude.

"For us at this moment it is important to play matches like this against quality opposition like Korea," said Versleijen.

"The majority of players had a good amount of game time and most importantly there were no injuries to speak of.

"We are not quite there in terms of our match fitness and there are a number of technical things to work on still, but we are progressing as expected.

"We will have a recovery tomorrow morning, talk about what we need to improve and then have our final training match against England on Friday."

The Young Socceroos will play another friendly match against England on Friday at Dick's Sporting Goods Training Field before heading to Colombia to finalise preparations for the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Australia: 1.Mark Birighitti (gk) (c) (18.Matthew Acton (gk) 55'), 2.Rhyan Grant, 3.Dylan McGowan (16.Petar Franjic 55'), 5.Marc Warren (17.Sam Gallagher 55'), 7.Kofi Danning (20.Jake Barker-Daish 55'), 8.Terry Antonis, 13.Matthew Fletcher, 15.Brendan Hamill (4.Trent Sainsbury 55'), 19.Bernie Ibini-Isei, 20.Jake Barker-Daish ((10.Mustafa Amini 28')( 6.Ben Kantarovski 55')) 21.Dimitrios Petratos

Substitutes Not Used: 12.Lawrence Thomas (gk)

Yellow Cards: Bernie Ibini-Isei 61'

Still stinging from the Joeys’ 4-0 second-round exit from the under-17 World Cup in Mexico at the hands of Uzbekistan last month, the Dutch mentor is determined to silence those who have questioned his suitability for the role as Australia’s youth teams chief.

“We are looking at having a good goal difference, making a good start and picking up at least three to four points in the group,” he told The World Game.

“Three points might be good enough if we don’t concede too many. But four points is of course preferable.

"I have set a target to reach the knockout stages (as the Joeys did in Mexico) and I think that is certainly realistic.

"It’s vital we win our first game, as the Joeys did, so we need to pick up something against Ecuador. I have a good feeling about my team and I’m really looking forward to see what these boys do at this level.”

After Ecuador, the Young Socceroos face Costa Rica on Wednesday, August 3, before their final group match against defending European champion Spain on Saturday, August 6.

Three of Versleijen’s chief attacking weapons – Tommy Oar, Matthew Leckie and Kerem Bulut – have not yet joined the team ahead of warm-ups against fellow World Cup hopefuls Korea Republic (July 22) and England (July 24).

"We have a promising squad with a lot of players who can score goals and create them. I know what my starting line will be against Ecuador. We are more technically adept and individually strong than in 2009 in Egypt,” Versleijen said.

“Back then we had more leaders and that’s something we need to work on. We had the likes of Luke DeVere and James Holland and that team had a bit more personality.

“I’ve told this group that they have to help each other build that group mentality and togetherness. We need that to be really competitive at this level.”

Versleijen knows he has attacking potency aplenty, adding: “Tommy Oar was there in Egypt and has since then played for the senior team, Matthew Leckie has made a very good career move to Germany and Kerem Bulut was top scorer last tear in China at the AFC under-19 championships, so these are players who can all hurt teams.

“We need to be good with the ball and we have to hold onto it. It’s not an easy draw. Ecuador only conceded four goals in their entire qualifying campaign and is an excellent counter-attacking team.

“They rely on their defence and speed up front. Costa Rica are fast and technical and play really nice football, whereas Spain are a copy of the team that is the European champions and world champions at senior level, so we know they will be extremely hard to contain.”

FC Utrecht flier Oar is due to arrive from the Netherlands on Wednesday, while Czech Republic-based Bulut and Leckie won’t arrive in Colombia until July 25, six days before Australia’s tournament opener at altitude against Ecuador.

The squad will be based at Manizales, situated 2,180m above sea level, for the first part of the tournament, with attitude acclimatisation a priority for the coach.

Versleijen also has Sydney FC’s Terry Antonis and new Borussia Dortmund capture Mustafa Amini providing further options in the final third, along with Brisbane Roar’s Kofi Danning and Central Coast Mariners rookie Bernie Ibini-Isei.

He is also giving his captain Ben Kantarovski, part of the Australian team bounced out at the group stage in Egypt, every chance to prove his fitness after his knee reconstruction.

“It’s a day by day thing for him and we can’t push it. Hopefully he will be ready for Ecuador,” he said.

Versleijen refused to take a heavy stick to notable absentees, Brondby’s Brent McGrath and Hajduk Split’s Steve Lustica, who both made themselves unavailable.

“It’s a big pity for them not to be involved. They have the quality to play for us but they must have faced a lot of pressure from their clubs and when you are young it can be hard to stand up to that.

“It’s sad because anybody who has a chance to play for their national team should.”

With all three Group C matches to be played at 2,150m above sea level in the Colombian city of Manizales, the first decision Young Socceroos head coach Jan Versleijen made when planning the campaign was to have a 10-day pre-tournament altitude training camp in Denver, Colorado.

Denver is situated at 1,600m above sea level and is high enough to let the players bodies adjust to the demands of playing at altitude with temperatures hovering around 34°C and 20-30 percent humidity.

Versleijen, who is also in charge of the men's football program at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra, consulted with some of Australia's top sports scientists at the AIS Sports Physiology Department on how to best prepare his team for the challenge of competing at altitude. The AIS Sports Physiology Department has over 20 years of experience of using altitude to prepare athletes for competition and is considered the world leader in the area.

"To compete at the World Cup we have to conquer all the conditions which includes the altitude, time difference, temperature and the movement of the ball," said Versleijen after training on the second day of the camp.

"We know that the training loads placed on the players are different at altitude compared to sea level.

"The science is used to confirm and check the performance of the players during training.

"If you don't monitor the loads and stresses on the players during this phase of our preparations they will break down and will not be at their peak for the tournament.

"Our training sessions will be gradually built up from 65 minutes to 90 minutes as the players acclimatise to the conditions.

"It must also be considered that the match ball moves differently at altitude and our training drills have been modified to maximise ball interaction for the players.

"By combining all this knowledge and strategies we will be fully prepared for the start of the tournament.

AIS Sports Physiologist Laura Garvican and Victorian University of Technology Exercise Science Honours Student Kristal Hammond have also travelled with the Young Socceroos to Denver to assist with the team's preparations.

Garvican and Hammond will monitor the heart-rate and GPS positioning of each of the players during the training sessions to provide valuable feedback to the coaching staff on individual performance. The data collected at each training session is discussed daily with the coaches, and modifications to future training sessions are made where necessary.

Garvican, who specialises in preparing elite athletes for extreme environments, believes that there is much to be gained from using the latest in sports science to prepare the Young Socceroos for the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

"Elite endurance athletes have used altitude training for many years as a means to improve their performance at sea level," said Garvican

"The use of altitude in team sports has not been explored in depth, but many team sports are now facing the challenges of altitude due to the location of major sporting events.

"Faced with the challenge of competing at the U-20 World Cup at altitudes greater than 2000m, the Young Socceroos are drawing on the experience that Australian sports scientists have gained from endurance athletes, in order to achieve the best possible preparation.

"The combination of the heat and altitude in Denver provides potential benefits from two angles - the altitude provides a stimulus to increase red blood cell production, whilst the primary adaptation to heat stress results in an increase in plasma volume. In combination, these adaptations result in a larger blood volume, allowing the players to work harder, for longer."

Young Socceroos team medical officer, Dr Trevor Law, is responsible for the overall wellbeing of the team and monitors the player's sleep levels and hydration on a daily basis to ensure that they are adequately compensating for the loss of electrolytes that they experience through training.

"The biggest issue of competing at altitude is getting the body accustomed to the physiological changes which includes headaches, sleep disturbance and fluid loss," said Dr Law.

"To overcome the effects of altitude stress we are monitoring their hydration levels, their sleeping patterns and general nutritional levels.

"One strategy to assist with the adjustment to the time zone differences was that the players were put onto the desired time zone from the time we left Sydney and once we arrived avoided direct daylight in the mornings, meaning that training was mainly held in the afternoons for the first few days.

"Each player adapts to the change in altitude differently, but within a few days they will normalize and we believe that by the time we arrive in Colombia the altitude will not be a significant issue."

In total the Young Socceroos will spend 10 days in Denver before travelling to Colombia on 26 July to complete their preparations before their opening match of the FIFA U-20 World Cup against Ecuador on 31 July.

Berger also said he and Young Socceroos coach Jan Versleijen were so desperate to pick McGrath they went to extraordinary lengths to persuade him to rethink his decision.

“They both let us know that they prefer to do the pre-season with the clubs instead of playing for the Young Socceroos in the World Cup,” Berger said.

“With Brent McGrath, I tried to convince him and Socceroos coach Holger Osieck tried.

“Finally I asked Lucas Neill to contact Brent to make him aware of the fact that we think it’s not really a good position for him to take.

“At the end of the day he decided to stick with his position and it is like it is.”

In the case of McGrath, who plays for Brondby in Denmark and was called up to the Socceroos for the friendly match against Germany in March, Berger suggested club pressure may have been a factor in his decision to snub national duty.

“I’m just saying that it’s very difficult for a young player, when you’re pressured by your club, to make a different decision to the one the club wants,” Berger said.

“I tried to call Brondby, by the way, but the technical director didn’t respond either to my voicemail or my text message.

“But it is a problem and it also makes clear that it’s not always easy, for us or the players, to make everybody available.”

McGrath’s reluctance to upset his club resulted in his non-selection for the Socceroos friendly matches against New Zealand and Serbia in June and would continue to harm his Socceroos prospects.

“I think Holger gave a clear indication of how this would affect Brent’s Socceroos career by not selecting him for the Serbia and New Zealand game, partly to do with this issue,” Berger said.

“I’m not selecting the Socceroos, Holger is. But the fact Brent wasn’t selected for the two friendly games after the Germany games had to do with this.”

Young Socceroos Squad: Matthew ACTON (Brisbane Roar), Mustafa AMINI (Central Coast Mariners), Terry ANTONIS (Sydney FC), Jake BARKER-DAISH (Gold Coast United), Mark BIRIGHITTI (Adelaide United), Kerem BULUT (Mlada Boleslav, Czech Republic), Kofi DANNING (Brisbane Roar), Matthew FLETCHER (Uncontracted), Petar FRANJIC (Melbourne Victory), Sam GALLAGHER (Central Coast Mariners), Rhyan GRANT (Sydney FC), Brendan HAMILL (Melbourne Heart), Bernie IBINI-ISEI (Central Coast Mariners), Ben KANTAROVSKI (Newcastle Jets), Mathew LECKIE (Borussia Monchengladbach, Germany), Dylan MCGOWAN (Gold Coast United), Tommy OAR (FC Utrecht, Netherlands), Dimitrios PETRATOS (Sydney FC), Trent SAINSBURY (Central Coast Mariners), Lawrence THOMAS (Uncontracted), Marc WARREN (Sheffield United, United Kingdom)

Versleijen will be using the three-day camp as the final stage of the selection process before naming his squad for the AFC Under-19 Championships which will be played in China next month.

During the training camp, the Young Socceroos will also play a friendly match on Tuesday (September 7) against a Sydney FC select team comprising of A-League and National Youth League players at Macquarie University.

Versleijen is looking forward to have the opportunity to work with the players before selecting his final squad.

“This is the last time we can work together before the AFC Championships,” said Versleijen.

“For me, it will be a good opportunity to see how the players are performing after 5 weeks of the Hyundai A-League competition.

“Our match against the Sydney FC team on Tuesday night will be a great way to compare the players.

When it comes to selecting the final squad will be selecting the best possible players available for the tournament which will also include players that are based overseas.

“For some players this camp is the last chance to prove that they deserve to be in the final squad that goes to the tournament,” concluded Versleijen.

The AFC Under-19 Championship will be held in the host city of Zibo, China, from 3-17 October, 2010, at the Zibo Sports Complex Stadium and Linzi Stadium. The top four (4) teams from the AFC Under-19 Championship will qualify for the 2011 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Colombia.

The Young Socceroos have been drawn in Group D with Yemen, Korea Republic and IR Iran.

The Young Socceroos will play their opening match of the tournament against Yemen on Monday 4 October, followed by IR Iran on Wednesday 6 October with the final group match against the Korea Republic on Friday 8 October.

The quarter finals will be played on Monday 11 October, semi-finals on Thursday 14 October, with the Final to be played on Sunday 17 October.

In front of a small crowd at the Libertad Stadium, the Young Socceroos went down a goal in the third minute after Diego Benitez pounced on a defensive mistake.

Paraguay then went up 2-0 just before half-time when striker Ivan Torres chested down the ball and neatly finished past goalkeeper Alex Pearson.

The second half was more evenly contested, though it was delayed for 20 minutes after the floodlights went off due to a power failure.

Young Socceroos coach Jan Versleijen was optimistic about his team's performance.

"We came to South America to play quality opposition and that is what we got, our players learnt a lot by the experience," Versleijen said.

The Young Socceroos, captained by Newcastle Jets star Ben Kantarovski, will face Paraguay again on Thursday before two matches against the Argentina U-20s next week.

"The only two players who really dealt with the pressure and intensity were Ben Kantarovski and Kerem Bulut," Versleijen added.

"Ben in particular has played first team football for the past two years and was also a part of an U-20 World Cup and he, along with Kerem, matched the level of the Paraguay players.

The tour forms part of the side's preparations for October's Asian Under 19s Championship in China, where the top four teams will qualify for next year's FIFA Under 20s World Cup.

Australia U-20 line-up v Paraguay U-20: Alex PEARSON (gk), Nikola STANOJEVIC, Trent SAINSBURY, Petar FRANJIC, Sam GALLAGHER, Steven LUSTICA, Francesco MONTEROSSO (Ben HALLORAN 60'), Ben KANTAROVSKI (C), Kerem BULUT, Theo MARKELIS (Mustafa AMINI 60'), Stephen DOMENICI (Kliment TASESKI 60').