Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Fujairah: Australia coach Paul Okon praised his players for all adhering to the strategic philosophy that was behind the impressive 3-0 win over Jordan on Sunday which took them through to the semi-finals of the AFC U-19 Championship 2012.
Corey Gameiro was the star of the show as the striker, who is on loan at Dutch side FC Eindhoven from English Premier League side Fulham, scored all three of the Young Socceroos' goals.
After opening the scoring with a ninth minute penalty, Gameiro added two more in the second half (55th and 82nd) as Australia booked their place in the final four as well as a berth at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
"All the players believe in our philosophy and we played some very good football," Okon told reporters at the post-match press conference.
"We respect the Jordanian team and it was a very tough game against a very strong side but I think we were the better team on the night.
"I am extremely happy with the victory as we only started preparations about a month ago as there are a number of the team playing in Europe."
One of those Europe-based players, Gameiro, put in an outstanding display by scoring all three goals and while Okon was quick to praise the Wollongong-born youngster for his contribution he was also keen to maintain the 'team' ethos prevalent in his Young Socceroos' side.
"Gameiro has shown during the tournament that he is a good player and has an eye for goal but before the ball reaches him there are always other players that play in important role in creating the goals."
Okon's counterpart Jamal Abu Abed was clearly disappointed with the defeat, which he believes was due primarily to the mistakes made by his own players, but also thought the Jordan can exit the tournament with their heads held high after an impressive showing in the UAE.
"We made a mistake early on when our defender gave away a penalty and after that we had to push for the equaliser. When Australia scored their second goal we started making more and more mistakes and we lost control of the match.
"Fatigue was also a problem as we were playing another match in a short period of time which is why the players didn't perform as well as they could.
"Our team is young and I think they have a good future. We performed well in all our matches and managed to get good results against DPR Korea, the defending champions, and Vietnam.
"But today we were not lucky and the early goal badly affected the whole team."