Bahrain must defeat hosts Uzbekistan if they are to advance to the last eight.TASHKENT - Bahrain coach Hosni Zouaoui knows his side can settle for nothing less than victory when they take on AFC U-16 Championship hosts Uzbekistan in their last Group A match at Pakhtakor stadium on Wednesday.
Both sides have three points after their first two games with the hosts holding second place by virtue of a better goal-difference, meaning Zouaoui’s team need to push for the win if they are to join group leaders Iran in the knockout phase of the competition.
"Only a win will do for us on Wednesday as a draw will give second place to Uzbekistan on goal-difference," said Zouaoui. "The match will be hard for both sides because it will be a decisive game.
"We have watched Uzbekistan’s first two matches and they have a strong attack especially number 8 (Akramjon Bahritdinov). But we will try to take advantage of their mistakes at the back and get a win."
Uzbekistan coach Robert Gay said that he will try to make amends for the mistakes they made in their 2-1 defeat against Iran.
"We still have a chance to go through and our game against Bahrain is decisive," said Gay. "We must correct the mistakes that we made against Iran as we cannot afford to lose.
"Our scoring abilities were hampered in the previous match and we should work on this side while we must strengthen our defence. We will try to do our best to get the three points."
Iran coach Ali Doustimehr, meanwhile, believes the group phase of the competition has served as perfect preparation for his team when they go into the quarter-finals later the week.
The Iranians have earned a spot in the last eight thanks to wins over Uzbekistan and Bahrain and will meet Singapore in their final group game.
"All the matches that we play in the group stage only prepare us for the next tough stage," said Doustimehr. "There could be some changes against Singapore but it only depends on the status of the players.
"We are taking the game against Singapore as preparatory for the next stage and to be honest it doesn't matter who we play against, whether it’s Syria or Korea Republic because if we want to qualify for the World Cup we must defeat all the teams that we meet."
Singapore coach Kageyama Masanaga suggested he may field the same line-up for the clash with Iran despite seeing his side lose their two previous matches.
"There might be no changes against Iran as we will only give the chance for the players who are ready to play," he said.
"The players must fight to deserve the chance to play because it will not be right if I just gave the chance for nothing.
"Although we have lost our chance to go through, we will play with our best players as I will only select the best."
Source:The AFC.com
