The U.S. U-17 national team got two goals five minutes apart in the first half to beat Australia, 2-0, on the opening day of the 2004 Nike Friendlies at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

Midfielder Ryan Soroka unleashed a bullet into the upper left corner in the 33rd minute, and Ofori Sarkodie doubled the lead five minutes later, heading home a corner kick over the outstretched hands of Australian goalkeeper Ben Cheyne.

The match against Australia will be aired on Fox Sports World on Dec. 11 at 5 p.m. ET, and re-aired on Dec. 14 at 2 a.m. ET.

''I thought we played well in the first half and put Australia on their heels from the early going,'' said U.S. coach John Hackworth. ''We werenÆt as attack-minded in the second half, but we continued to stifle their attack and keep them at bay for almost the entire game.''

The victory marked the first official win for Hackworth since being promoted to the U-17 head coaching position in the middle of November. Hackworth also led the U-17s to a 3-1 victory over Canada on Oct. 25 while acting as the interim head coach at the time.

In the younger U.S. U-17s' match against the Houston Texans earlier in the day, Peri Marosevic notched a dazzling strike in the first half and Eric Avila knocked in a rebound in the second half to give the U.S. a 2-1 come-from-behind victory.

The U.S. U-15s also came away victorious in their opening match of the four-day event. Playing up in the Under-16 division, the U.S. got two goals from Kirk Urso, brother of U-17 Quavas Kirk, in the first half, and goals from Brandon Tarr and Rodrigo DaSilva in the second half for a dominating 4-0 win over the Houston Texans.

USA-AUSTRALIA GAME REPORT:

Dec. 2 in Bradenton, Fla.

USA 2 Australia 0. Goals: Soroka 33, Sarkodi 37

USA — Brueckner, Lichaj, Sarkodie, Borja, Wagner (Farfan, 69); Besagno (Ampaipitakwong, 60), Nakazawa, Arvizu (Ababio, 60); Kirk (Igwe, 80), Zimmerman (Hall, 85), Soroka.

Australia — Cheyne, Weidenbach (Myles, 75), Piemonte, Oostendorp Power, Spiranovic (Thom, 46), Broxham (Buyukkopru, 46), Mullen (Kruse, 61), Patafta (Graham, 72), Park (Dobbin, 46), Williams, Miller (Maroney, 46).

Referee: Riza Milliken (USA).