Japan, Thailand edge into under-19 soccer meet semis

JAKARTA (JP): Two red cards marred the last qualifying round matches at the 29th Asian Youth Under-19 soccer championship last night as Japan and Thailand secured the last two semifinal berths.

With the tense, two-week long competitions nearing an end, the losing side Kuwait criticized the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the poor organization of the tournament.

Thailand confirmed its promise in Asian soccer when it whipped 10-strong Kuwait 4-0 in their Group B do-or-die match for a semifinal place. The other semifinal berth went to Japan which sank a red-faced South Korea 1-0, thanks to a penalty successfully converted by Suguru Ito in the 79th minute.

Both East Asian sides, which entered the championship as red- hot favorites, entertained the 3,000 crowd, mostly their flag- waving supporters, with their tireless attacking soccer.

Referee Omar Al Mehanna awarded the penalty after Japanese captain Ito was sent by Park Han-dong to the penalty box, despite strong protests from the South Korean players. The foul also cost Park a yellow card.

The penalty ended the goal drought during the tooth-and-nail match which saw too many goal scoring chances missed. The cool Japanese striker slotted a sharp shot to the far post, while South Korean goalie Noh Sun-man lost his feet.

The game turned furious as frustrated South Koreans performed their rigorous power play. They had to play with 10 boys three minutes from the final whistle after the Saudi Arabian referee sent Jang Min-seok off the pitch. Byun was considered to have made a deliberate foul by seizing a safe ball from goalie Seiji Honda.

"We overcame this very hard challenge since we were able to regain our form during the second half," a cheerful Japanese coach Koji Tanaka said after the match.

Best play

Displaying its best attacking soccer, Thailand, which needed a win to secure a ticket into the last four, showed no mercy to the spiritless Kuwait during the do-or-die match.

Hard working winger Somrit Ornsomchit opened the goal spree in the 32nd minute and romped on with another goal in the 65th. Kiatisuk Senamuang scored one through a penalty, before captain Tawan Sripan struck the last goal in the 67th.

Thailand finished second in Group B behind Japan and now will play Syria in Friday's cross-over semifinals. The other semifinal will pit Japan, 1-0 winner against South Korea in yesterday's co- featured match, against Group A runner-up Iraq.

Kuwait's head of delegation, Mohammed Al Shamiri, enlivened the press conference held after the match with his staunch criticism that AFC was not able to take strong measures against age violations committed by six out of 10 participating teams.

"I know well there are many players above 19 years of age in this tournament," Shamiri said. He declined to name the teams but indicated that his side, the host team and the Thais were the clean ones.

"How we can develop our soccer if those AFC officials conduct deliberations through the telephone," he said.

Standings

Group A 1. Syria 4 3 1 0 13-3 10 2. Iraq 4 2 1 1 7-4 7 3. Indonesia 4 2 1 1 4-5 5 4. Qatar 4 1 2 1 5-7 5 5. Kazakhstan 4 0 0 4 5-15 0

Group B 1. Japan 4 3 0 1 5-2 9 2. Thailand 4 2 1 1 8-4 7 3. South Korea 4 1 2 1 7-8 5 4. Bahrain 4 0 3 1 4-6 3 5. Kuwait 4 0 2 2 3-9 2