New South Wales have done the double at the 2026 CommBank Emerging Socceroos Championships with NSW Navy clinching the under-16s and NSW Sky lifting the trophy in the under-15s.
Fittingly, for the final of the Emerging Socceroos Championships, national team boss Tony Popovic and a Socceroos icon himself, was sitting in the stands, watching NSW Navy beat Western Australia 2-0, while NSW Sky edged Queensland Maroon 2-1.
"We all thought of that in the back of our mind, but we...wanted to play as a team,” NSW Navy midfielder Zavier Scott said of Popovic’s presence.
“We didn't try and play our way into a jersey, so I feel like that's why we got on top."
He added: "We knew we'd do this well because we were so confident in each other, and we were just together the whole time.
"So we knew we'd make it here - it was just a matter of performing in the finals."
The match was decided by an eye-catching brace from Dimitri Staveris, bringing his campaign tally to six goals in a week.
He was that excited after his opener that he snapped the corner flag in celebration; his second, in the 25th minute, was less dramatic but equally eye-catching, a poised finish from the right of the box after a lovely one-touch team move, with the assist coming from Zoravar Singh.
In the Under-15s, Samuel Hassarati was the match winner with a clutch second half strike, squeezing a low drive home from just outside the box after having an initial effort blocked for his third goal of the campaign.
"We're the best in the state, a bit of a feeling that all of us have never had," William Karatasos beamed.
"It's obviously a bit new to us, but it's really good, really happy."
He added: "I've never felt this before...really happy, really happy."
The tight contest needed a match winner after both sides exchanged penalties in the opening stanza. After NSW's Aaron Roussos hit the crossbar with a fourth minute header, the impressive Nathan Kirby got to work for Queensland with some sharp movement around the box.
Just after firing a warning shot over the bar, he was felled in the box to win a penalty, which he duly converted.
"No, never worried," NSW's Karatasos said after the game.
"This whole tournament we haven't really copped a goal out of open play. We only copped two penalties. I was really confident with our defensive line throughout the game and obviously our attack. We gelled over the tournament so I wasn't really worried."
Indeed, the lead lasted nine minutes; Lachie Schumacher dinked a cheeky ball in behind, which Jacob Sousa tracked down, winning a penalty, which he also slotted home. It was also his third goal of the Emerging Socceroos Championships.
Hassarati’s breakthrough proved the difference; while Queensland pushed for an equaliser, NSW showed composure to see the game out, at times playing impressively through the press.
That concludes two weeks of competition across Melbourne and Sydney, Matildas and Socceroos, across both the under-15s and under16s age groups, which included everything from pre-tournament testing, getting qualitative data for players and states to benchmark themselves on, through to the experience of playing away from home, in tournament conditions mimicking an Asian Cup, against players from outside their own state - and even, international competition via Vietnam and Japan.
"We stayed together, ate together, spoke all together," Karatasos said of the week away.
"As a collective we did well. I'm really happy with the boys...we have a great attitude, we'll leave our souls on the field," Karatasos said.
Football Australia now has a depth chart gleaned from the week, a better idea of the positions the country needs to find solutions for and options for Carl Veart to consider as the Asian Cup beckons should anyone stand out enough to threaten the incumbent under-17s.
The players themselves were aware of the opportunity the week provides, particularly showing how they adapted to the rigours of tournament football, and a knockout, big game stage.
"We all wanted to come here, show what we have. It's everyone from Australia, we all want to participate obviously; there's a lot of people watching us, but we didn't really let that phase us," Karatasos added.
"We came here ultimately to win and execute our plan and hopefully all of us go further into football."
The incentive all week has been clear, with a who's who of Australian football spotted in the stands at Valentine Sports Park. Indeed, all of last year's under-16s team of the tournament were picked by Carl Veart for the next under-17s camp at the time.
"It gives you bit of goosebumps, it's brilliant," he beamed.
"Hopefully all of us get to play Socceroos one day, I wish that for all of us."
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This article was originally published on football360.com.au
List of Award Winners
U15 Fair Play: Northern NSW
U16 Fair Play: Football QLD White
U15 Referee of the Tournament: Charlie Hollings (Football NSW)
U16 Referee of the Tournament: Rowan Fisher (Football NSW)
U15 Coach of the Tournament: Chris Gallo (Football NSW Sky)
U16 Coach of the Tournament: Jacques Sartor (Football NSW Navy)
U15 Goalkeeper of the Tournament: Codey Huston (Football QLD Maroon)
U16 Goalkeeper of the Tournament: Luca Nesci (Football Victoria Blue)
U15 Golden Boot: Lucas Krenek & Nathan Kirby (Football QLD Maroon) & Joshua Tassotti (Football South Australia) - 7 goals
U16 Golden Boot: Zachary Harrison (Football QLD Maroon) - 8 goals
U15 Championship Final MVP: Jacob Sousa (Football NSW Sky)
U16 Championship Final MVP: Dimitri Staveris (Football NSW Navy)
U15 CommBank Player of the Tournament: Kallum Chalker (Football QLD Maroon)
U16 CommBank Player of the Tournament: Zachary Harrison (Football QLD Maroon)
