22 July 2008
Eight NSWIS soccer athletes helped Australia to take out the AFF under-16 Youth Championships in Jakarta, July 9-19.
Strikers Kerem Bulut and Nikola Stanojevic were joined by midfielders Jared Lum and Benjamin Kantarovski (Northern). A solid defensive unit was constructed around Brendan Hamill and Marc Warren and goalkeepers Robert Kolak and Lawrence Thomas.
Australia fired a warning to their Asian under-16 rivals by winning the AFF under-16 Youth Championships. The Aussies defeated Bahrain 5-4 on penalties at the Lebak Bulus Stadium, following a 1-1 deadlock in regular and extra-time.
Ali Muneer Redha put the Gulf side ahead on 44 minutes before Warren pulled the Aussies back into the game with his 87th minute header. Thirty minutes of extra-time failed to break the stalemate.
In the ensuing shoot-out, the scores stood level at 4-4 when Bahraini Abdullah Khalifa Mohamed missed from the spot, leaving Bulut to place the ball left of the goalkeeper for a memorable victory.