Korea Republic coach Lee Kwang-jong is unlikely to take his foot of the gas against Syria even though the East Asians are through to the last eight.TASHKENT – Korea Republic and Syria will adopt different approaches for Wednesday’s Group B decider safe in the knowledge they have already secured places in the quarter-finals of the AFC U-16 Championship.
Korea coach Lee Kwang-jong insists his side will look to continue their impressive start to the tournament and aim to top Group B with a 100% record.
Following their 5-2 opening day win over India, Korea demolished Indonesia 9-0 to secure a place in the last eight, but Lee is cautious about taking the foot off the gas with a testing quarter-final ahead.
“Looking at the other group there is the possibility that Iran and Uzbekistan will go through, however, our objective is to do well and be consistent,” said Lee.
“We want to win regardless of who we will meet, but if we win, it could benefit us as we could play a weaker team.”
Opposite number Kifork Mardakyan has already revealed he plans to rest several players after his side delivered a much-improved performance to down India 3-0 to join Korea in the last eight.
“We will look to finish top, but we might have to face Iran or Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals and we are looking forward to that more than the game against Korea,” said Mardakyan.
“But against Korea you will see more football as it is very difficult when teams play with nine players behind the ball.”
At MHSK Stadium, India and Indonesia will look to pick up their first points as they battle for third place.
“We have lost twice, that is no problem, but in the last game we will try to win,” said Indonesia coach Mundari Karya.
“Two matches in three days is very hard. We will see who can still perform; maybe we will use the fresh players who have not played yet.”
Despite his side’s elimination, technical director Colm Toal has been pleased with India’s progress which has seen them record encouraging results in the lead up to the championships in Germany, Saudi Arabia, USA and England
“We would like to win, but whether we finish third or bottom, it doesn’t matter, what matters is we have been together for 15 months and seen progress,” he said.
“We may not have seen as much progress as we would have liked in the last two matches, but you have to judge it on where we have come from, not where we are.”
Source:The AFC.com
