Japan, Syria in final showdown at U-19 c'ship<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Syria and Japan lock horns tomorrow for the 29th
\nAsian Youth Under-19 soccer championship title after each won
\nsemifinal matches at Senayan stadium last night.<\/p>\n
The celebrations of the two finalists, which also will make
\nappearances at the World Under-20 finals in Lagos, Nigeria in
\nMarch next year, were immediately overshadowed by Veter Velappan,
\nsecretary general of the Asian Football Confederation, who
\ndisclosed measures taken by the soccer body to fight over-age
\nviolations during the two-week tournament.<\/p>\n
Two goals from Susumu Oki gave Japan, a growing soccer
\npowerhouse in Asia, another goal spree as it whipped Iraq 3-0. In
\nthe previous semifinal battle, Syria shattered Thailand's dream
\nof making it through the final with a 1-0 victory, thanks to
\nLauay Thelb's lone goal in the 79th minute.<\/p>\n
However, the loss by only one point against the unbeaten,
\nhigh-riding Syrians was certainly a great achievement after
\nmaintaining a 0-0 draw through the first half. The Thai squad,
\nwhom their own coach repeatedly referred to as an underdog team,
\nhas now begun to change the view they have of themselves.<\/p>\n
\"It's proof that our team is not an underdog. We could play
\nSyria equally,\" Thailand's coach, Chatchai Phaholpai, told
\nreporters after congratulating Syrian team manager Ahmed Hajjir.<\/p>\n
According to Chatchai, his boys were mentally down in the
\nsecond half after Kiatsuk Senamuang, the team's midfield ace,
\ncould not continue playing because of an injury.<\/p>\n
In the eighth minute of the second half, Kiatsuk was knocked
\ndown in a head-on collision with Syrian Tarek Jabban in a hot
\nstruggle for the ball.<\/p>\n
Throughout the match, Thailand repeatedly made aggressive
\nattacks which produced many golden opportunities. But Thailand's
\neagerness and haste to score a goal ended with the ball passing
\nhigh over the Syrian goal post.<\/p>\n
Dividends<\/p>\n
Japan showed no mercy to the defensive-prone Iraqis with
\nrelentless threats which lasted only until Malaysian referee
\nNazir Abdullah blew the final whistle. Iraq's well-organized
\ndefense paid dividends only in the first 40 minutes, before
\nSotaro Yasunaga slotted home a rebound to the net.<\/p>\n
The Japanese boys kept on their pressures in the second half,
\nwith the dazzling partnership of a forwarder team made up of Oki,
\nHidetoshi Nakata and Naoki Matsuda taking control in the Iraqi
\npenalty box.<\/p>\n
Oki tallied his first goal of the game nine minutes after the
\nbreak, finishing a short pass from Sotaro Yasunaga. Iraq's goalie
\nKhalid Risan should have blamed his team's ruinous defense as
\nless than five minutes later, Oki found the net again.<\/p>\n
\"I urged my players to think and decide fast since we were
\ntaking on opponents with excellent skills and ball control,\"
\nJapanese coach Koji Tanaka said after the match.<\/p>\n
A soft spoken Velappan blasted allegations that the AFC did
\nnot do anything to deal with the over-age violations, saying that
\nthe Asian soccer body had conducted random X-rays on three
\nplayers of each participating team before the tournament.<\/p>\n
The X-ray, conducted by Japanese experts, examined the
\nplayers' wrists, hips, ankles and knees, which usually can
\ndetermine the true age of each player.<\/p>\n
AFC will send letters to the national federations in each
\ncountry a week after the tournament and will ask for school,
\nmilitary service and employement records of the players to cross-
\ncheck the X-ray results.(arf\/amd)<\/p>",
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