The LG Young Socceroos have had the gloss taken off their World Youth Championship challenge, losing 3-0 today to the Czech Republic, in Group D Action.
The Australian Under-20s were on the back foot from the opening whistle, the concession of two goals in the space of three minutes in the first half proving too formidable a task to fight back from.
The Czech Republic took the lead in the 27th minute, Peter Musil finding the back of the net after beating Australian keeper Michael Turnbull with a shot from 22 metres out.
Three minutes later, the Czech Republic were up 2-0, Tomas Jun breaking clear of the defence and knocking his shot over an advancing Turnbull.
The onslaught continued into the second half, with the Czechs recording their third of the game from a free-kick, Michal Macek hitting the ball over the wall, and into the top right hand corner of the net, two minutes into the half.
Despite a couple of late chances to Australia in the second half, created by Scott McDonald, the LG Young Socceroos had no answer for their opponents today, a victory in their final game against Angola required for progression to the second round.
"It was a very disappointing result and game today, we didn't play well, and considering we had played so well in our opening encounter against Japan, today's effort was a huge let down," said coach Ange Postecoglou after the game.
"We fell down all over the park - we lost our composure, we struggled to keep possession, and I felt that the boys started nervously and didn't recover.
"It was a day where we just couldn't find our feet, and that's something we need to work on in the next couple of days, we'll be going back to basics at training, looking to re-do things we did so successfully in the first game, and hopefully getting everyone to understand that they can't afford to lose the composure.
"There's no doubt that losing Ljubo (Milicevic) left a big whole in the team, he's the kind of guy who could have steadied the ship, and that was his role, both in the backline and as captain, yes, we did miss him on the park, but he's not available to us anymore, and we can't use that as an excuse," he continued.
"I really feel that this is a pretty even group, there isn't a lot between the teams, and if one team has an off day, like we did today, then that's how you get that kind of scoreline.
"We've got a fair bit of work to do, starting from tomorrow, we'll concentrate on keeping possession, and also sit the boys down and try to get them to relax - I don't know if the occasion got to them today, but if we can recreate the atmosphere of the first game, then they should have nothing to worry about." Postecoglou concluded