Under-20 Asian Cup: Daniel Bennie vows Australia will not rest on laurels in pursuit of silverware

The Young Socceroos have already achieved history at the 2025 under-20 Asian Cup — but former Perth Glory prodigy Daniel Bennie has declared his side will not be satisfied unless they bring home the cup. For the first time since 2011, the Australian under-20’s side find themselves in the final of a major tournament as they prepare to face Saudi Arabia on Saturday night. Just by reaching the last four of the tournament, Australia have qualified for the FIFA under-20 World Cup for the first time since 2013, when they boasted a side including Jackson Irvine and Adam Taggart. But having comfortably seen off Japan 2-0 in the semifinals, Bennie said their goal of arriving home with a trophy in tow had remained unchanged since the start of the tournament. “We’ve done something really special, getting to a World Cup, but the job’s not done,” he said. “We want to win the tournament and I think the way we’re going and the group we have, we’re totally capable of doing that.” Bennie, who moved to Queens Park Rangers in England’s Championship during the off-season, has played every game at the tournament and scored twice along the way. The 18-year-old said their victory over Japan, seen by many as the gold standard for Asian football, was a statement win given it had come after they had completed one of their goals by qualifying for this year’s World Cup in Chile. “It’s quite easy, once you’ve qualified for a World Cup to relax a little bit and take the next two games a little lightly, but the boys knew we couldn’t do that and the staff knew that as well. “We went out in the semi and played one of our best games, so we’ve just got to carry that into the final, carry the momentum and go out and beat Saudi Arabia. “We can look at the other team as well, but if we play our best, and we play our football, I don’t think anyone can beat us — that’s my way of thinking.” The nature of the Young Socceroos’ success so far has been eye-catching; playing a possession-based style, the team have controlled games while displaying an advanced technical quality compared to youth teams of yesteryear, who have previously failed to meet local expectations. “You can see in every game we’re controlling games. Against Japan, we actually controlled that game a whole lot more than they did,” Bennie said. Young Socceroos coach Trevor Morgan said they could not ignore the fact they were playing for a trophy but would try to focus more on their tactical approach. Regardless of the outcome, Morgan said his team had displayed heart and talent to reach the final in the fashion they had. “All of those things can be an exclamation mark put at the end of it when you win a match like a final because people do tend to look at those history books,” he said. “But the way the boys have been playing, if I look at my job, which is to try to prepare the team to win, then they’ve done a good job of that already. They’ve already proven they’re a really top team in Asia. “For them, taking the scalp of being the number one team in Asia, and that achievement, we’ve got a group of competitive players here, so I can’t hold them back from that. “We got here by going on the front foot and if the football you play reflects the culture of your nation, then you’ve got something to be proud of anyway.”

Under-20 Asian Cup: Daniel Bennie vows Australia will not rest on laurels in pursuit of silverware

The No. 1 source of news for every West Australian

Subscribe

Subscribe