There were mixed results for both the U15 and U16 boys at the recent National Youth Championships with some sterling efforts put in, perhaps exemplified by a terrific 1-1 draw obtained by the under-15 team against a highly-fancied NSW Metro White team on Day Three.
That the draw came off the back of a chastening loss to a Victoria side packed with players who have already tasted international football, was even more impressive as the Capital Football young guns showed maturity and conviction to earn themselves a creditable point.
The team certainly got better as the week went on, a 2-1 win over NSW Country secured thanks to goals from Nicholas Baird and Zain Durrani, the duo joining two-goal Thinley Dorji amongst the scorers during the tournament, was a particular highlight.
And even in the penultimate game the team were battling hard, holding Queensland White to 1-1 when the match was abandoned due to poor weather conditions. They reconvened a day later and ending up drawing 2-2 before falling 2-4 in a penalty shoot-out.
The team ran out of steam late on, finishing twelfth after being outgunned by Western Australia on the final day of competition.
UNDER-15 (12th)
GA: Queensland Maroon L 0-2
GA: Victoria Blue L 1-10 (Dorji)
GA: NSW Metro White D 1-1 (Dorji)
PQF: NSW Country W 2-1 (Baird, Durrani)
PS: Queensland White D 2-2 (Villatobas, Dorji) – lost 1-3 on penalties
PO11/12: Western Australia L 0-4
GOALSCORERS
3: Thinley DORJI
1: Nicholas BAIRD, Zain DURRANI, Lucas VILLATOBAS
Thirteen goals, two wins, a draw and two losses represented a decent week’s work for the U16 team who finished the competition in a blaze of goals having despatched the Invitational X1 and Western Australia in some style. Earlier in the week, Football Australia had reported on the team’s epic draw with Queensland as follows:
Half of WIN Stadium rejoiced while the other half sank in their seats during an enthralling Capital Football and Queensland Maroon Under 16 clash. With Capital Football ahead 3-2 and only seconds remaining on the clock, Queensland Maroon managed to sneak the ball into the goal in the dying seconds to level the scores and walk away with a 3-all draw. Despite falling agonisingly short, Capital Football Head Coach Marcial Munoz was immensely proud of his side for putting three goals past one of the stronger sides in the competition.
“This is one of the better teams Capital Football has ever had,” Munoz said. “I think our selection was on the money, the boys put in a massive shift. Queensland (Maroon) looked great, and they deserved the draw, but I think we did well to really be in the game and compete. When you think you have the result, but it doesn’t go your way, it always stings, but I’m happy with the performance especially from some of our players who really stepped it up.”
Capital Football’s Under 16 side only managed four goals in the entire 2023 National Youth Championships Boys’ Tournament, so to already score three in their first game, had Munoz excited for what’s to come. “We always have an attacking mindset and an attacking philosophy, and that’s how we want to keep it. We can’t always control our opposition so today was a little bit hard for us but we’re always looking to attack and score goals,” Munoz concluded.
The squad competed well during the week, eventually being ranked tenth after a Play-Off defeat to Queensland Maroon, the same team they began the week against.
UNDER-16 (10th)
GA: Queensland Maroon D 3-3 (Donald, Zwangobani, Blazevski)
GA: Victoria Blue L 1-3 (Zwangobani)
GA: NSW Metro White L 0-3
PQF: Invitational X1 W 6-3 (Pratezina (3), Jukic, Deevi, Colson)
PS: Western Australia W 3-0 (Donald, Blazevski, Jukic)
PO 9/10: Queensland Maroon L 0-2
GOALSCORERS
3: Michael PRATEZINA
2: Thomas BLAZEVSKI, Leo DONALD, Luka JUKIC, Cadel ZWANGOBANI
1: Zachary COLSON, Sivamsh DEEVI
As well as the playing group, Capital Football provided two match officials to the tournament with referees Vince Harrison Cracknell and Jordan King taking charge of fixtures throughout the tournament
Officials: Harrison Cracknell, Jordan King