The Australians dug deep despite Iraq twice taking the lead, with Alexander Badolato then netting the winner with a stunning shot from just outside the Iraqi penalty box.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody knew it was a big match,\u201d said Morgan. \u201cWe expected to show the character and quality that we did, and we\u2019re happy in the end because we achieved the win. But this match was a big learning experience for us.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes, you have to be prepared for different situations. When you’re ahead, you need to protect the lead, but when you’re behind, you have no choice but to fight back.\u201d <\/p>\n
Luka Jovanovic\u2019s dipping free-kick gave Australia an immediate response to Iraq\u2019s early opener, while Panagiotis Kikianis\u2019 equaliser in the second half and Badolato\u2019s winner showcased the team\u2019s composure and attacking depth.
\nThe victory secured Australia\u2019s place in the FIFA U20 World Cup Chile 2025 and kept their AFC U20 Asian Cup\u2122 title ambitions alive with either Japan or Islamic Republic of Iran their semi-final opponents.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most important thing for us was to stay calm and patient. That\u2019s why we were much happier in the second half when we took control.
\n\u201cWe had the opportunity to rotate our squad more, which gave us freshness. This is a great group of boys with strong self-belief. What was most impressive was their willingness to push forward, and the equalising goal created the momentum we needed,\u201d said Morgan.<\/p>\n
For Iraq, the defeat was painful but not without pride with head coach Emad Mohammed acknowledging his team\u2019s high level of play.
\n\u201cBefore the match, I said it would be a big one, as both teams are excellent in both attack and defence,\u201d said Mohammed. \u201cIt was an open, attacking match from both sides. In my opinion, Australia are a strong team, and we are proud of our players for the level they showed.
\n\u201cThis was our best performance so far, but unfortunately, we lost. In the group stage, we did not perform at the required level against Jordan and DPR Korea, yet we avoided defeat. Today, we played at the level we aimed for \u2013 creating chances and scoring goals \u2013 but still lost.”<\/p>\n
Emad, however, remained optimistic about Iraq’s future, citing the young squad as the future of the U23 team.
\n\u201cWe have built this team, along with the previous U20 squad, for the future. They will form the core of the U23 team, with around 50 players available to compete in the next two editions of the AFC U23 Asian Cup\u2122.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Australians dug deep despite Iraq twice taking the lead, with Alexander Badolato then netting the winner with a stunning shot from just outside the Iraqi penalty box. \u201cEverybody knew it was a big match,\u201d said Morgan. \u201cWe expected to show the character and quality that we did, and we\u2019re happy in the end because […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1057641,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20967],"tags":[3733,28042],"class_list":["post-1057640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afc-news","tag-afc","tag-afc-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1057640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1057640"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1057640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1057642,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1057640\/revisions\/1057642"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1057641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1057640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1057640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/91varzeshi.ir\/portal\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1057640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}