George Sorras (born 11 April 1972) is an Australian of Greek descent who is a former National Soccer League player and International U-20 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship bronze medal winner. Sorras was also the New South Wales Soccer Development Officer for many years, conducting school soccer throughout the state. Many National League and International soccer players were also part of this development program which was proudly and successfully introduced by Soccer NSW.
Sorras started his career with the Australian club Sydney Olympic in 1984, at the young age of 12. He was the youngest junior to sign with the club, quickly becoming the club's top goal scorer. George Sorras was also named Man of the Match in the Grand Final of the Ampol Cup in 1984 after scoring a wonderful goal to secure his team's win in extra time. During his four seasons with the Sydney Olympic Junior Squad, prior to him departing for the AIS, Sorras was regularly the top goal scorer in the National Youth League and was awarded Player of the Year on many occasions. Sorras also played and captained the NSW representative teams in the Australian Championships U13's, 14's, 15's, - 19's and was part of the 1995 first grade NSW team tour in South Korea.
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In 1989, Sorras was offered a scholarship to join the elite training academy Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra where he trained for the next two years. Under the watchful eye of Head Coach Ron Smith, Sorras developed into a robust and dynamic attacking player. Being named captain on many occasions, Sorras was respected and admired by his team mates during his two seasons at the AIS. Whilst in Canberra with the AIS, Sorras toured many countries including the USA, Canada, Hong Kong, China and South Korea. Sorras' attributes included his ability to take on players and create goal scoring opportunities for his team mates. He was a strong and fast attacking midfielder who consistently played the game with passion and commitment.
Sorras represented Australia on 21 occasions and made his debut for the Australian U-20 squad in the Oceania qualifiers in May 1990. http://aus.worldfootball.net/spieler_profil/george-sorras/ After finishing first on points in the group stages, the team successfully defeated opponents such as New Zealand, Vanuatu, Fiji, Indonesia and Malaysia. The under 20 squad then faced Israel for a place in the 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship in Portugal. Australia defeated Israel at the Sydney Football Stadium in May 1991 on a home and away encounter, http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/U20/1990.html ultimately winning on an away aggregate. Sorras was proud to have been named Man of the Match after an excellent and positive performance in front of his home crowd.[1][2]
Results: World Cup - June 1991 http://www.rsssf.com/tablesw/wyc91.html
Group Stage:
Quarter Finals:
Semi Finals:
Third Place Playoff:
Toured Countries:
Sorras made his National League debut scoring a header against Melbourne Knights in a 3-3 draw. Sorras' NSL career spanned over 9 years, with more than 100 National League appearances (Sydney Olympic 1988-1995 scoring 9 goals, Canberra Cosmos 1995-96 scoring 2 goals). During the peak of his career, Sorras successfully played in a defensive position (centre back) and quickly was known and renowned for his ability to mark and dispossess opposing strikers, often initiating and creating counter-attacks. In 1996 Sorras returned to his beloved Sydney Olympic FC where he began his career in 1984. Sorras was often troubled by a knee injury that kept him out of many games throughout the season. Finally after a further reconstruction in 1996 of the right knee, Sorras decided to retire shortly after the 1996-97 National League season. Sorras contributes much of his success to his friend the late Johnny Warren and former AIS Head Coach, Ron Smith.