Australia coach Martyn Crook (right) believes his side is in the toughest of the four AFC U-16 Championship groups.TASHKENT – Australia coach Martyn Crook is prepared for a tough AFC U-16 Championship opener against Saudi Arabia at Pakhtakor Stadium on Sunday as his side look to plot their way out of a testing Group C.
Australia are looking to carry on from July’s ASEAN Football Federation U-16 Youth Championship triumph in Indonesia and hope success in the Uzbekistan capital can secure a place at the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
But Australia and Saudi Arabia have been drawn in Group C alongside China and Turkmenistan and Crook is well aware the task facing the Joeys.
“We know Saudi Arabia’s reputation, record and their recent good results,” said Crook.
“The first step is to qualify for the world stage, if we can do that, then we can look at winning the tournament.
“On paper, we have been handed the toughest group as China will be very strong, but we have a team who are capable.”
Saudi Arabia’s Portuguese coach Kika insists Australia are one of the favourites for the title, and even though he concedes his side are behind Australia and China, maintains they have set their sights set on advancing from the group.
“We do not have a lot of information about Australia, we have not seen them, but we know they are very strong,” said Kika.
“You cannot compare the teams of China and Australia with Saudi Arabia as we start taking care of our players at 15 and 16, but they start when they are nine and 10. This means we are at a disadvantage.”
Meanwhile, China scored 28 goals in qualifying from their group with a 100% record and hope to continue their form against Turkmenistan.
“We want to gain a lot of experience and improve our level and help build a strong relationship in the team,” said coach Zhu Jin Xing.
“We don’t know a lot about Turkmenistan, but we have managed to acquire some information. The first match is very important and we will try out best.”
Despite the tough task facing his side, Turkmenistan coach Amanklych Kochumov is confident his team can match up to China and has his sights set on the knockout stage.
“If we did not believe we could qualify, we would not be here to fight. This first game is very important for us and we must start well,” he said.
“We do not have any information about them, but also they do not know us.”
Source:The AFC.com
