Young Socceroos go down

[the_gun]

Australia's U-20 men's team suffered a 2-0 loss to Paraguay's U-20 team in the opening match of its South American tour.

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').