The Australian Joeys earned a place in next year's U17s Football World Championships by making the semi-finals of the Asian Football Confederation U16s Championships last week - and Springwood's Henry Davies was right in the thick of the action.
The talented defender played the full 90 minutes plus injury time in four out of Australia's five matches, including a 3-0 win over China, a 2-1 quarter-final victory against Malaysia and a heart-breaking semi-final loss via penalty shootout (4-1) against North Korea after scores were locked at 1-1.
Davies - now based at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra - not only played his part in keeping the North Koreans scoreless in the second half, he almost delivered Australia victory - narrowly missing a gutsy long range shot on goal in stoppage time.
Joeys coach, former Socceroo Tony Vidmar, said the team achieved its primary goal of World Cup qualification and despite losing the semi-final "overall, the way they played was fantastic and the whole country should be proud".
"They tried to keep the ball as much as possible and to be proactive in the way they defended, so that's the style we are trying to develop," Vidmar said.
The Joeys were boosted by having Socceroos head coach Ange Postecoglou watching from the stands during both of their finals matches in Bangkok.
Speaking to the Gazette on Monday on his return to Canberra, Davies said "having Ange there was very special, because we didn't know he was coming".
"It obviously made you want to peform out there.
"He spent some time with us after the games too and talked to us about what we were doing well.
"It was hard to play for 90 minutes every two days in the Thai heat, especially during our quarter-final which started at 3.30pm.
"We do weigh-ins before and after each match and after that one I'd lost somewhere between 1.5 to 2 kilograms.
"We had a nervous start in our opening game but I think we improved a lot from there, especially in the win (4-2) against Japan, who had the ball for about 80 per cent of the time.
"It's a great feeling, knowing we qualified for the World Cup in Chile."
Davies said he only decided to play football by accident after attending someone's birthday party when he was six.
"We were kicking a soccer ball around and somebody said I was good and I should join a team - looking back now, I'm lucky I took that advice."
Davies went on to play through the junior grades with Springwood United, joined Westfield Sports High and then starred for NSW Metro at the national youth football championships.
"I played well at nationals and last December I was invited to become a member of the (Football Federation Australia Centre of Excellence Scholarship) Program in Canberra.
"Three weeks after moving there I went on a four-match playing tour of Italy and we did really well against their top junior club teams, better than I'd thought.
"We get to train with Tony (Vidmar) after school three to four times per week and play in the National Premier League.
"He is a really good coach, not just for on-field stuff but away from football too - he motivates us."
While Davies' immediate focus is preparing for the U17s World Cup, he said his longer term goal is to become a professional footballer.
"I want to go as far as I can in the sport and play for Australia, in the A-League, anywhere I can."
