Former international Vaughan Coveny lauds sensation Christian Polyzoudis after Player of Tournament feat at Youth Champs

Polyzoudis took out the Player of the Tournament honours as he led Victoria to an U16 National Youth Championships win in Sydney last week, with his major highlight being a stunning goal from outside the box.

Coveny, who made 64 appearances for New Zealand and also played for Newcastle Jets and Wellington Phoenix in the A-League, has overseen Polyzoudis’ development at Geelong Grammar as the school’s head coach.

He believes the attacking midfielder has similar qualities to Socceroos great Aaron Mooy and midfielder Tommy Rogic.

Polyzoudis plays for Melbourne Victory’s youth team in the National Premier League (NPL) at club level, scoring six goals in 11 games for their U16 side and featuring twice in their U18 line-up this year.

Coveny believes he has the potential to make it to the next level but cautioned that it is still early days for the youngster.

“There’s still a long way to go, you don’t really like to make a prediction ‘oh yeah he is going to make it’ or whatever because the reality is that it’s very hard to become a professional footballer anywhere.

More Coverage

Elite school lands Brownlow medallist as new coach

Dan Batten

“I hope he does and the next 12-24 month will be an interesting time for him, not just soccer but also school.

“Players that have played for Australia people like Aaron Mooy and Tommy Rogic, those type of players. Sort of a similar type of player with those sort of attributes but he’s got his own qualities as well.

“But he’s obviously doing good things with his club side as well. So he’s got a bright future ahead of him if he keeps going.”

Originally published as Former international Vaughan Coveny lauds sensation Christian Polyzoudis after Player of Tournament feat at Youth Champs