Over-age allegations are shrugged off
Over-age allegations are shrugged off
JAKARTA (JP): The semifinalists at the 29th Asian Youth Under-
19 soccer championship shrugged off over-age allegations as they
prepared for today's battles.
The Syrian, Japanese, Iraqi and Thai sides gave no trace of
anxiety about the sportsmanship row as they underwent their light
training sessions. Syria and Japan, winners of Group A and B
respectively, practiced at different locations across Jakarta
today. Syria was at Menteng stadium, Central Jakarta, some 20
kilometers away from their rivals who had their warm-up at Lebak
Bulus stadium, South Jakarta.
"The allegations have no basis. We would have never come here
if we had committed such a wrong-doing," Iraqi coach Salman Ahmed
Akram said in a high tone.
Three-time winner Iraq, which last took the laurels after
beating Syria 6-5 on penalties in 1988, plays Japan for a final
berth and a ticket to the World Youth Under-20 championship
finals in Lagos, Nigeria in March of next year.
Mohammed Al Shammiri of Kuwait alleged on Tuesday that six out
of the 10 teams participating in the tournament had some players
above 19-year-old age limit.
Vice President of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Nabon
Noor promised on Wednesday that the region's soccer body would
conduct an investigation into the case, which would include X-
raying the young booters. He added that they would punish any
national soccer federation whose players were found guilty, with
two or three years expulsion from AFC-sanctioned competitions.
Japan and Thailand refused to make any comment, saying that
everybody had a right to speak. "We appreciate his (Shammiri's)
opinion. Everything is up to AFC now," Thailand coach Chatchai
Phaholpai said.
Chatchai said the semifinal match against red-hot favorite
Syria was all that filled his mind. He reiterated that his side
was the underdog.
"Anything can happen in soccer. Some might say we ran into a
little bit of luck, but who would have ever thought we could beat
Japan?" he asked. Thailand stung Japan 2-0 in their Group B
opener.
Libero Pranupong Pinsunvun, the architect of Thailand's 4-0
whipping of Kuwait, will certainly join his side despite a nose
injury acquired in that game.
Come to win
The undefeated Syrian team, under the able coaching of Marwan
Arafat and Russian Anatoly Baidachni, appear to be unstoppable.
"We came here to win," Arafat said bluntly. Syria, which
outlasted defending champion Saudi Arabia in penalty shootouts to
qualify for the tournament, is the only unbeaten team to make it
to the last four rounds. With a total of 13 goals, said Arafat,
we have proven that Syria deserved the World championship berth.
However, the coach implied that there might have been more.
"I asked my boys to stop the goal-taking spree when we led 6-0
in the first half in our last match against Kazakhstan," Arafat
said of his powerful team.
Japan, making its tournament debut, was poised to continue its
winning run. Coach Koji Tanaka, however, was tight-lipped about
the crucial match against Iraq.
Fielding six players who are members of the star studded,
professional J-league, the newcomer looked set to live up its
billing as one of the continent's soccer powerhouses.
Tanaka will likely depend on Ulawa Reds' Nobuhisa Yamada and
Kashima Antlers' Koji Kumagai in the midfield, with Suguru Ito
leading up Japan's front charge.
However, Japan will still have to be on their toes. The
tournament's top scorers, Amer Mushrif Mehsen and Mohammad
Hassan, will be trying to pad their goal tallies and will
certainly be real threats to the Japanese defenders. (amd)
Today's fixtures:
Syria v Thailand, 5.30 p.m.
Japan v Iraq, 7.30 p.m.