Young Socceroos qualify for World Cup

The Young Socceroos have qualified for the 2009 under 20 World Cup after defeating North Korea 2-1 in the quarter-finals of the under 19 AFC Championships.

A spectacular goal by Mitch Nichols at the Prince Saud Bin Jalawi Stadium late in extra time separated the two sides after they were locked at 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes.

Australia's passage to the World Cup is now secure with the top four teams from this competition going through to Egypt in September.
The Young Socceroos opened the scoring in the 11th minute when James Holland played a wide ball to Ryan McGowan down the right side.
McGowan then found Nichols in the middle who hit a great curling strike into the top right hand corner of the goal.

Eight minutes into the second half North Korea equalised following a goal mouth scramble, setting the scene for an exciting finish. Both teams traded opportunities for the remainder of the half but with no goals forthcoming extra time was played.

With the match looking destined to go to a penalty shootout, McGowan took a long throw into the box to Luke DeVere. DeVere headed on to Nichols who produced an acrobatic overhead kick which sent the ball sailing into the left corner of the goal that left the goalkeeper stranded to seal the win.

Young Socceroos coach Jan Versleijen said he was pleased with his team's performances to date. "We came here with the goal to qualify for the World Cup and we have achieved that," he said. "The players worked extremely hard and deserved to qualify for Egypt next year.
"Now we have to set a new goal of trying to win the tournament. The next game against the UAE in the semi-final will be challenging but another good test for us."

The other semi-final sees South Korea play Uzbekistan. Australia's game is on Tuesday.