Australia and Japan might have struck up an incredible on-field rivalry in the 20 years since moving into the Asian Football Confederation but this week in Sydney, both countries are learning from each other at the CommBank Emerging Socceroos Championships.
The Japanese Academy have been invited into the Under-15s tournament and on Tuesday were handed a 4-1 thrashing by Queensland Maroon as the group stages concluded.
That result backs up an observation made by JFA Coach Hitoshi Matsuoka. While often Australians defer to the Japanese for their technical ability, he observed, at this youth level, that “the thing that was quite similar was the technical ability”.
Vietnam was invited to the CommBank Emerging Matildas Championships and Japan to the Emerging Socceroos Championships in Football Australia’s strategy to expose Aussie youngsters to Asian playing styles, with the idea that it was better to bring teams here to face multiple sides rather than send one side to Asia.
Photo by Damian Briggs / Football Australia.
“It’s critical we expose more Australian players to the Asian style of football – that’s the level our top young players need to compete against and beat if we’re going to keep moving the game forward internationally,” said Gary Moretti, Football Australia Head of National Teams.
Matsuoka said the opportunity to come to Australia was an important one for the JFA to “test our level against one of the top teams in Asia”.
“The main difference is the physicality: the height and body strength,” he observed.
“The Australian players are taller and physical, the Japanese players are a bit smaller.
“The thing that was quite similar was the technical ability.
“Players all have developed their unique skills, like in Japan they’re nurturing players, their ability to take advantage of their physical attributes and skills. That’s the same way we approach youth football and development: you are developing players.
“There is individual difference in skill level and different technique: they are very well matched within our team - we have a good mixture of players against each other, which is a good part of it.”
As for the tournament itself, one of the benefits Australia is providing the Japanese is the exposure to different conditions - particularly grass pitches.
“Every game they’re playing, they’re settling, progressing each time, seeing the development of our players every time we’re playing,” he added.
“It’s a little bit hotter in Australia than in Japan so we had to adjust to the temperature change but in summer Japan gets much hotter - but right now, coming from Japan, was a temperature shock.
“The facilities, the fields, the tournaments are all of a very high standard, we’re really enjoying being part of that and impressed by the environment we’re a part of.
“Normally used to playing on an artificial field - this is an opportunity to play on a natural field, this is another new experience for them.”
In an interview prior to the tournament, Australia’s Under-20s coach and Football Australia’s former Technical Director Trevor Morgan spoke about the tyranny of distance in Australia as being one of the challenges to overcome in youth development.
CommBank Young Socceroos Head Coach Trevor Morgan at the CommBank Emerging Socceroos Championships. Photo by Damian Briggs / Football Australia.
That’s why this Emerging Socceroos Championships plays such a vital role - not just in bringing the likes of Japan to Australia, but allowing the country’s best players to face each other outside of their own states.
“Bringing people together on the project,” Morgan said, when asked what he would ask for if he could get anything to support or improve youth development in Australia.
“Sharing information back down to the level where players are doing most of their work.
“Connecting the country more often, that's why talent development scheme matches, maybe sometimes running national ones where we televise the game…
“The Emerging Championships is an example; the more connection points we have where there's a chance for coaches to talk to coaches, players to play against better players, that's one of the things that was identified by the FIFA ecosystem analysis way back during COVID - Australia is a great country and has some really good competitions but they're not all connected because of geography.
“Because of geography on a weekly basis you can't play against the best players in the country because some live in Perth and some live in Brisbane and it just doesn't happen.
“So the week to week, the day to day, the club competition, we need to find ways to raise that level and provide more opportunities on a more regular basis for high level competition for the players.”
That’s what the players are getting this week, including the taste of continental competition. The Japan side are in a group with Victoria White, who defeated Tasmania 2-0 on Tuesday courtesy of Jayden Hobson and Suren Derakhshi.
In other Under-15s action, NSW Navy put five past Capital Football and Victoria Blue edged Queensland Silver courtesy of Baran Aras’ poised winner in Group A.
Group C saw South Australia beat Northern Territory 2-0 and NSW Sky defeated Northern NSW 4-1, while Group D featured eight goals. Western Australia enjoyed a 5-0 win over Victory Country featuring a Freddie Smith hat-trick, while Queensland White won 3-0 over NSW Regional.
In the Under-16s, Victoria Blue and NSW Navy stamped their authority over the tournament, with both sides recording huge wins at Valentine Sports Park.
The Victorians put eight goals past Queensland Silver in a game that was 7-0 at half time, with Maalek Bakaar bagging a hat-trick and Mikey Cohen scoring twice to give their side an 8-0 win that took them to six points in Group A, three behind NSW Navy who comfortably accounted for Capital Football 6-1.
Zoravar Singh scored three times in that game, after scoring four goals in the Under 15s tournament last year.
In Group B, Queensland Maroon beat the Charles Perkins XI 3-0 courtesy of a hat-trick from Zachary Harrison, the third consecutive game in which he's found the back of the net. (Tasmania vs Victoria White)
Northern NSW made it three wins out of three in Group C, easing past NSW Sky 3-0 thanks to goals from Drey Rhule, Zac Zigic and Indie Hill, while in the other Group C clash South Australia downed Northern Territory 3-1. Rounding out the groups, Queensland White won 3-0 against Queensland Regional while Western Australia and Victoria Country played out a 0-0 draw.
Part of the experience is experiencing a tournament model that mimics the Asian Cup, and having negotiated the group stages, Wednesday sees knockout football begin.
In the 15’s, NSW Navy face Queensland White, NSW Sky face Victoria White, Football West take on Victoria Blue and Queensland Maroon take on Football South Australia.
In the older age group, there’s another instalment of NSW Navy v Queensland White and Queensland Maroon against Football South Australia, while Northern NSW take on Football Tasmania, Football West face Victoria Blue.
HOW TO WATCH
KommunityTV is your destination for exclusive live streams of the 2026 CommBank Emerging Championships with News Corp full digital subscribers having exclusive access to watch the action.
Every match will be available to watch live and on demand. Live streams of all fields will be available for each day of the tournament, with replays posted at the end of each day.
FIXTURES & RESULTS
The Tournament Hub has all the competitions and results while the Tournament Guide features all the groups, fixtures and key information.
