Saad looking for early advantage

Safa coach Samir Saad is hoping that his side can build up a commanding AFC Cup semi-final lead when they host Dempo in the first leg.

BEIRUT – Safa coach Samir Saad is looking to secure an early advantage when his team when host India's Dempo in the first leg of their 2008 AFC Cup semi-finals at Beirut Sports City Stadium on Tuesday.

Safa, who are taking part in the competition for the first time in their history, qualified for the semi-finals of the competition with an impressive 7-0 aggregate win over Malaysia's Perak and Saad is hoping his side can put on another commanding display.

"The first leg is always important and hopefully we can have a good advantage because if we have a good result on Tuesday, then this will help us for the second leg which we will play away," he said.

"There is no doubt that we are now in a critical phase as we are in the top four of the competition and we must try our best in order to qualify to the final of the competition.

"We are looking forward to motivating the players so they perform as well as they did in the quarter-finals so we can achieve the dream of Safa and bring joy for Lebanese football.

"We studied how Dempo played against Al Ansar in the group stage when they came to Beirut. We will try to watch the video of that game in order to take an idea about their style."

Dempo go into the semi-final having lost their opening I-League match against JCT Mills, but coach Armando Colaco remains unconcerned with that defeat as his side aims to qualify for the final.

"We are confident after reaching this stage," he said. "No Indian team has reached the semi-finals of the competition before and that's why we are confident that we can go all the way to the final.

"We have collected some information about Safa as we watched tapes for their group stage matches. We will employ the correct strategy to play against them as they are not an extraordinarily strong team.

"A draw on Tuesday will be the result that we are looking for but we know that we can return home with three points which will give us more advantage as we will play the second leg at home."

Colaco revealed that the only injury concerns will be on goalkeeper Abhijit Mondal who had to be replaced in previous league match due to a thigh injury and has yet to fully recover.

Source:The AFC.com

MYS 1-1 YEM: Al Khamri cock-up proves costly

Yemen players were distraught after conceding a bizzare stoppage-time penalty.

TASHKENT – Mohamad Fandi converted a penalty deep into stoppage time as Malaysia earned a very fortunate 1-1 draw with 10-man Yemen in an AFC U-16 Championship Group D match at MHSK Stadium on Tuesday.

Mohammed Al Shamsi opened the scoring for Yemen with a ninth minute penalty but the Middle Eastern side were reduced to 10 men when Mohammed Boqshan was sent off in the 68th minute.

The Yemenis looked to have earned the three points though until a bizarre handball by Yemen defender Ahmed Al Khamri gave the Malaysians a penalty in the fourth minute of stoppage time which Fandi duly dispatched.

Malaysia created the first chance of the game after four minutes as Saarvindran Devandrn set up Gary Steven who shot wide from the edge of the area.

But it was Yemen who opened the scoring shortly afterwards when Mohammed Greef was fouled inside the box and Al Shamsi made no mistake from the spot.

Al Shamsi could have netted his second of the night in the 16th minute on 16 minutes when his free-kick from the left was turned out by Malaysia goalkeeper Zulfadhli bin Mohamed for a corner.

Zulfadhli continued his heroics three minutes later, saving a powerful shot from Essam Al Worafi, keeping his side just a goal adrift at half-time.

Malaysia coach Lim Kim Chon introduced striker Syahrul Azwari at half-time and the move inspired the Malaysians to a good start to the second half.

They should have pulled level five minutes after the break when Saarvindran’s powerful shot from inside the area was deflected by a Yemeni defender just wide of the right post.

Yemen were reduced to 10 men midway through the second half when Mohammed Boqshan as the last defender, brought down Mohamad Fandi on the edge of the area to pick up his second yellow card of the game.

Malaysia went close again with 15 minutes left on the clock when Fandi’s corner was headed over the crossbar by a leaping Mohammad Saidin and it appeared that Yemen had done enough to hold on.

But deep into stoppage time, Al Khamri thought that the referee had whistled for offside on Gary Steven and picked up the ball with his hands.

A penalty was awarded and Fandi successfully converted from the spot to give his side a very fortunate point.

Source:The AFC.com

Ibrahim: I have faith in my players

UAE coach Ali Ibrahim has every confidence that his side can defeat U-16 champions Japan.

TASHKENT – UAE coach Ali Ibrahim is confident his side will take all three points from Japan when they face the defending champions in their second match in Group D of the AFC U-16 Championship on Tuesday.

UAE secured a 1-1 draw with Yemen in their first game in the tournament but Ibrahim believes that his players are capable of getting the victory that will reignite their chances of reaching the quarter-finals.

"We take each game as it comes," said Ibrahim, who will be without defender Khalifa Abdulrahman through injury.

"Japan are strong and they won the first match but we are still in contention and we must win.

"We will go for a win on Tuesday just like we do with all the games. We know that Japan are a strong team but we have great faith in our players and that they can get a win tomorrow."

Japan coach Ikeuchi Yutaka admitted there will be some changes to the team that defeated Malaysia 4-0 as his side look to seal their place in the knockout stage with one round let to play.

"We are going to change some positions and players against UAE," said Yutaka.

"We asked the players to communicate much more with the ball and not to be afraid like they were against Malaysia.

"Our aim is to seal our place in the next stage and this can be done with a win on Tuesday. We need to get to the last four in order to qualify for the FIFA U-17 World Cup next year. This is our main target."

Yemen coach Sami Al Nash said his side are fully focussed on their game against Malaysia as a win coupled with a UAE defeat to Japan could put them closer to a place in the next round.

"Our concentration is now on the match against Malaysia," he said.

"The previous draw with UAE forces us to get a win and we must do that against Malaysia.

"We will correct the mistakes that we had in the first match. We lost two points in that game but we still have a chance to go through."
Malaysia coach Lim Kim Chon warned his side have nothing to lose in the game, with his players looking only to gain experience from playing in such a tournament.

"In a tournament like this, the most important thing is to give the majority of the players a chance to play," he said.

"We have nothing to lose as we still have two matches to play and we will give players us much chance as we can."

Source:The AFC.com

Duo back to boost Joeys

Australia, who celebrated a 3-1 opening day win over Saudi Arabia, have been boosted by the return of two players from suspension.

TASHKENT – Australia coach Martyn Crook is boosted by the return of Marc Warren and Benjamin Kantarovski from suspension for Tuesday’s AFC U-16 Championship Group C meeting with fellow opening day winners China.

The Joeys produced a dominant display of attacking football to down a dangerous Saudi Arabia side 2-1 in Sunday’s opener and Crook will be faced with a welcome selection dilemma as Australia look to take a step towards a quarter-final berth at Pakhtakor Stadium.

“We have got a couple of guys who were suspended who will come into the calculations so it is good to have fresh legs coming into the team,” he said.

“There is not a lot of time between the games so we have to get straight back into it. It will be a big task against China so we will just take it one game at a time.”

China needed a late goal from Guo Yi to edge out Turkmenistan 2-1 despite dominating the contest, but coach Zhang Ning is confident his side will settle in time to face Australia.

“It was very difficult against Turkmenistan, there was a lot of pressure on the players, but as the tournament progresses they will learn to handle it and that will allow them to play better,” said Zhang.

“We created a lot of chances against Turkmenistan and we need to start taking them.”

Turkmenistan coach Amanklych Kochumov will hope the return of influential striker Vahyt Orazsahedov, who missed the defeat to China through suspension, will provide a much-needed boost to his side for the meeting with Saudi Arabia.

Team captain Orazsahedov scored four goals as Turkmenistan finished third in their qualifying group, which was won by hosts Uzbekistan.

“Vahyt will be back, while we should have a few other players back to full fitness,” he said.

“The game against China was our first experience of the championship and we will be able to improve and relax for the next game.”

Saudi Arabia will look to get their tournament back on track after struggling defensively against Australia’s high power attacking style.

“We will try and work on the psychological side and hopefully help the players forget the defeat and keep their heads high,” said coach Joaquim “Kika” Filho.

“Hopefully we will play better against Turkmenistan and get the three points and keep up our challenge for a place in the quarter-finals.”

Source:The AFC.com

BHR 3-0 SIN: Zouaoui dissatisfied despite win

Bahrain coach Hosni Zouaoui was not happy with his players' performance against Singapore even though they emerged 3-0 victors

TASHKENT – Bahrain coach Hosni Zouaoui was not satisfied despite his side's 3-0 win against Singapore in their second Group A match of this year's AFC U16 Championship at Pakhtakor stadium on Monday.

Bahrain had a 1-0 lead in the first half thanks to a long-range strike from Salman Ahmed before Sayed Dhiya Saeed and Dheya Salman scored in the second half to seal their side’s win.

"Personally, I'm not happy with the result because we should have scored more than three goals," said the Tunisian coach. "The players were over-confident in the match and that's why they couldn't add more goals.

"We should have had a better result. Our players tried to finish the chances so quickly and they lost their concentration after scoring the third goal and they couldn't add more goals.

"We have defeated Singapore in a previous match and that's why the players underestimated them. I warned the players to have a serious performance but they didn't as they were satisfied with their performance in the first game."

On the contrary, Singapore’s Japanese coach Kageyama Masanaga was pleased with the improved performance of his side after they lost 7-0 in their first match against hosts Uzbekistan.

"We lost the first match 7-0 against Uzbekistan where were missing eight players," said Masanaga. "I'm happy that I had all my players today and our players showed a good mentality after the shock of the first match.

"In the first half, I asked the players not to rush and to play calmly. I told them that chances will come but they continued with their quick play and they lost the ball easily.

"It was an open game from both sides today as both teams had chances to score.

"However, we couldn't score from the chances that we had while Bahrain scored three.

"Bahrain scored two goals in the second half because of our defensive mistakes which came due to lack of communication between our players, but we have to accept that as this is what we have."

Source:The AFC.com

BHR 3-0 SIN: Bahrain off the mark

Singapore keeper Ng Jia Fa claims the ball in the Cubs' AFC U-16 Championship clash with Bahrain.

TASHKENT – Bahrain registered their first win in this year's AFC U-16 Championship with a 3-0 victory against Singapore in their second Group A match at Pakhtakor Stadium on Monday.

Salman Ahmed gave Bahrain the lead just four minutes before the end of the first half while Sayed Dhiya Saeed doubled their advantage on 57 minutes before Dheya Salman scored his side’s third goal with 15 minutes remaining.

Both sides made a slow start before Singapore had the first chance in the game after 17 minutes when Muhammad Muhaymin shot wide from just inside the area.

On 21 minutes, Muhammad Fazli tried his luck with a long range effort which went near the right upright just three minutes before Bahrain’s Ali Muneer sent the ball over the crossbar at the other end.

Saeed’s run through the middle of the Singapore penalty area on the half hour mark unleashed Mohamed Adel but, with only Ng Jia Fa to beat, he could only fire into the body of the Singapore goalkeeper.

Singapore were denied by the woodwork on 33 minutes when Muhaymin beat Abdulla Khalifa to the ball before shooting past Bahrain goalkeeper Ahmed Abdulrasool, but the ball slammed against the right post.

Bahrain, however, took the lead four minutes before the break when Ahmed unleashed a powerful effort from 40-yards out which seared into the top left corner of Ng’s goal.

The Bahrainis continued to push at the start of the second half and by the 57th minute they had gone further ahead when Saeed picked up a loose ball and played a neat one-two with Ahmed Isa inside the area before slotting home.

Singapore tried to fight back and they went close in the 72nd minute when Muhaymin headed the ball over Bahraini goalkeeper Ahmed Abdulrasool but Abdulla Khalifa cleared off the line.

However, Bahrain put the result beyond doubt when Salman took advantage of a poor clearance from Kenneth Chang to go into the area, round Ng and score into an empty net with 15 minutes remaining.

Bahrain could have added a fourth four minutes from time when Hussain Jalil’s free kick from the left his the right post while Ng’s quick reaction save denied Jalil in the final minute of the game.

Source:The AFC.com

SYR 3-0 IND: Mardakyan hails improved performance

Syria's bench celebrate the 3-0 win over India that took them through to the quarter-finals.

TASHKENT – Coach Kifork Mardakyan was pleased after Syria lived up to his promise and delivered a much improved performance on Monday to secure an AFC U-16 Championship quarter-finals berth after recording a 3-0 win over India.

Syria struggled to a 2-1 opening day win over Indonesia, but Mardakyan insisted his side would improve as the tournament progressed.

And Syria delivered at MHSK Stadium as Asaad Al Khadr opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before two second half own goals ensured Mardakyan’s side joined Korea Republic in the last eight and eliminate India and Indonesia.

“I am satisfied and pleased,” said Mardakyan. “I said after the first game against Indonesia that the team would be better in the next game and progress and they have done that with that performance.”

With Sunday’s quarter-finals in mind, Mardakyan could ring the changes in the group decider against Korea, who top the table also with a 100% record but hold the advantage with a superior goal difference, as he eyes potential testing last eight meetings with Iran and Uzbekistan.

“We have some injuries and maybe some players will be rested as we are looking to the quarter-finals,” he added. “Our aim was to reach the quarter-finals and we have achieved that.”

India Technical Director Colm Toal was gracious in defeat, but remained positive despite his side’s elimination from the tournament at the first opportunity following back-to-back defeats.

“We did the best we could, but we just got out played. They came out with a lot of determination and enthusiasm, they were very lively and had a lot of skill and a lot of athletes and they were just the better team,” he said.

“I hoped we could head into half-time at 0-0, but then we gave the goal away before and we lost any momentum we had.”

Toal refused to point the finger at his side, who have been together on-and-off in Goa for over a year, following encouraging results in the lead up to the championships in Germany, Saudi Arabia, the United States and England.

“Whatever happens in the last game there will be plenty of pride in the team. I don’t think you can define this team’s performance over the last 15 months by what happens over these three games,” added Toal.

“I hope people back in India are not critical of what this team has done. They have represented India in a very fine way.”

Source:The AFC.com

SYR 3-0 IND: India gifts goals to Syrians

Midfielder Mahmoud Al Maowas (right) set up one as Syria defeated India 3-0 to book their place in the last eight.

TASHKENT – Syria joined free-scoring Korea Republic in the quarter-finals of the AFC U-16 Championship after recording a 3-0 win over India on Monday.

Asaad Al Khadr opened the scoring just before the break at MHSK Stadium after beating the India offside trap while two second half own goals following shots from Rabie Jmhaa wrapped up the win to maintain Syria’s 100% start and eliminate pointless India along with Indonesia.

Korea hold the edge over Syria at the top of Group B with a superior goal difference, but the two side’s meet on Wednesday to decide who advances to the last eight as group winners.

Syria began strongly as Jmhaa headed over inside the first three minutes before India goalkeeper Jayanta Paul clawed away an acrobatic close range effort from Mahmoud Saleh and Al Khadr headed wide.

Midway through the half Mohamad Kalaa-jei was allowed to advance unchallenged through the India midfield and forced Paul to palm his effort, which looked to be creeping inside the post, away from danger.

Syria had the ball in the net 13 minutes before the break but Rabie was adjudged to have been offside as he followed in after Paul could only palm away Saleh’s low strike from the edge of the area.

Paul needed a full-length diving save moments later to turn Kalaa-jei’s well struck dipping shot from the edge of the area around the post.

Syria were finally rewarded two minutes before the break as Mahmoud Al Maowas’ chipped ball forward caught the India defence flatfooted, allowing Al Khadr to narrowly beat the offside trap before firing across Paul, who managed to turn the ball onto the foot of the post but the shot had too much power and crept over the line.

On the stroke of half-time, Saleh rattled the India upright with Paul struggling to make up the ground across his goal.

Al Maowas drove a free-kick straight at Paul on the hour mark following a slow start to the second period before Jmhaa’s low drive across the face of goal deflected off an India defender who was tracking back to wrongfoot Paul and double Syria’s lead six minutes after the hour mark.

And with 18 minutes remaining Syria were handed a third as Jmhaa again shot across the face of goal from the edge of the area for defender Ashish Chettri to slice his attempted clearance past Paul from the six-yard line with the strike again heading wide.

Source:The AFC.com

IRN 2-1 UZB: Gay laments defensive errors

Uzbekistan coach Robert Gay thought defensive mistakes led to the AFC U-16 Championship hosts' 2-1 defeat to Iran.

TASHKENT – Uzbekistan coach Robert Gay was left to lament the defensive errors that cost his side a 2-1 loss to Iran in their second Group A match in the AFC U-16 Championship at Pakhtakor Stadium on Monday.
The Uzbeks entered the match high on confidence after a 7-0 win over Singapore in their opening game but were brought back down to earth by the Iranians who got a goal in each half by Mehrdad Yeganeh and Kaveh Rezaei before Oyatullahon Muhiddinov netted a late consolation for the hosts.

A mistake by Oybek Talipov resulted in Rezaei’s decisive strike 10 minutes into the second half but Gay did not want to single out the Uzbek goalkeeper for blame.

"We made some mistakes tonight which gave Iran the win," said the Russian in the post-match press conference.

"Our defenders made a lot of mistakes although we instructed them not to give up possession easily.

"As for Talipov, it was a stupid mistake but it was also the fault of the defenders who didn't clear the ball. We all make mistakes and that can have a psychological effect.

"To be honest we are much stronger than Iran and we should have won today," Gay added. "We played an attacking game but we shouldn't have waited until the last 10 minutes to score."

Iran coach Ali Doustimehr felt that his team deserved the win as they played a balanced game and made the most of their chances.

"I would like to thank Uzbekistan for their strong performance and I think that they will join us in the next stage," said Doustimehr.

"They are a very strong team and they had a good game.

"We played well today as we had a good balance between all of our lines," he added.

"We created a lot of chances and scored two goals and when Uzbekistan attacked we defended well.

"We deserved this win because we played well in all departments. We did everything as we hit the crossbar and we created a lot of scoring chances as well."

Source:The AFC.com

IRN 2-1 UZB: Two out of two for Iran

Iran's Omid Kharaji (left) and Bahram Dabbagh double up on Uzbekistan's Davronbek Khashimov.

TASHKENT – Iran maintained their perfect record in Group A at the AFC U-16 Championship with a 2-1 win over hosts Uzbekistan at Pakhtakor Stadium on Monday.

Mehrdad Yeganeh opened the scoring for the Iranians with a 27th minute strike and Kaveh Rezaei extended their lead 10 minutes into the second half before Oyatullahon Muhiddinov pulled back a consolation goal for the home side with 10 minutes remaining.

The Uzbeks were looking to build on their 7-0 demolition of Singapore in their opening match on Saturday and created the first opportunity of the game after 13 minutes as Maksim Utkin rose to meet a free-kick by Egor Krimets but sent his header wide.

But it was the Iranians that went ahead shortly before the half-hour mark when Yeganeh received a pass on the right edge of the Uzbek box and fired a left-footed shot past Oybek Talipov into the far corner of the net.

They nearly added a second two minutes later when Mehrgan Golbarg beat the Uzbek offside trap but was unable to put the ball past Talipov in a one-on-one showdown.

Uzbekistan turned on the pressure in the closing minutes of the half and should have equalised in the 37th minute as Akramjon Bahritdinov’s neat pass picked out an unmarked Abdumutallib Abdullaev who put his attempt over the crossbar.

Bahritdinov thought that he had equalised three minutes before the break when he bundled the ball past Iran goalkeeper Iman Sadeghi at the second attempt only to see the effort disallowed for offside.

In stoppage time, Abdullaev found himself with only the goalkeeper to beat only for Sadeghi to come to Iran’s rescue once again.

The hosts continued to press in the second half and went close eight minutes after the break when Abdullaev’s cross from the left was headed powerfully on target by Bahritdinov only for Sadeghi to make another remarkable save to keep his side in front.

Iran took full advantage of Sadeghi’s heroics, extending their advantage in the 55th minute when Talipov came out of his box in an attempt to make a clearance but lost possession to Mehrdad Yeganeh who put the ball into the crowded box where Kaveh Rezaei was on hand to score into the unguarded net.

Iran could have added a third goal seven minutes as Rayam Sadeghian launched a powerful shot from outside the box which rocked the Uzbek crossbar.

Uzbekistan pulled a goal back when substitute Oyatullahon Muhiddinov headed home a cross from Ayubhon Gapparov with 10 minutes remaining but it was to prove little more than a consolation as Iran held on for the three points.

Source:The AFC.com

KOR 9-0 INA – Lee hails hat-trick hero

Head coach Lee Kwang-jong praised the performance of hat-trick hero Lee Jong-ho as Korea Republic hammered Indonesia 9-0.

TASHKENT – Coach Lee Kwang-jong hailed the impact of hat-trick hero Lee Jong-ho after Korea Republic took a step towards the quarter-finals of the AFC U-16 Championship with an emphatic 9-0 win over Indonesia.

Korea, like in their opening day 5-2 success over India, completely dominated the contest and left a young Indonesia side shell-shocked with their direct, physical attacking style.

“All our players are very important to our team, not just one player. But Jong-ho had a very good game as he scored three goals,” said the Korea coach.

“He is capable of scoring and that is why we play him in a central striking position, but we can also use him out wide and he is well prepared to do that. He is very important for us and hopefully we can utilise him in the coming matches.”

Lee Dong-nyck’s header and Kim Jin-su’s curling strike handed Korea a 2-0 lead after just five minutes before a header from captain Rim Chang-woo, his second of the tournament, from Lee Jong-ho’s delivery added to the lead.

Lee Jong-ho headed home a fourth before the break and, following a less explosive start to the second half, Son Heung-min scored twice from the edge of the area in a 10 minute spell after the hour mark to increase the lead.

And with the clocking running down and Indonesia tiring after two games in three days, Lee Jong-ho rounded off a swift Korea counterattack with 10 minutes remaining for his second and, after substitute Kim Dong-min poked home from close range with four minutes remaining, completed his hat-trick with a stoppage time header.

Coach Lee added: “Our opponents were a lot weaker than us, but it is still a satisfying performance.”

While admitting Indonesia’s second defeat of the tournament was “embarrassing,” coach Mundari Karya believes the experience can have a positive affect on his young team.

“The Koreans were very physical and at the start of the match we failed to defend at set pieces and they scored several similar goals as they are much taller and a lot more physical,” he said.

“We lack experience at this level so this is a good opportunity to make progress. Korea were a very strong team and have a lot of quality. We hope to learn from this match.

“These are young players and it is not all about winning, we must try and keep the spirit in our team.”

Source:The AFC.com

KOR 9-0 INA: Classy Koreans outline championship credentials

Korea Republic players celebrate a goal during their 9-0 hammering of Indonesia.

TASHKENT – Korea Republic added to their AFC U-16 Championship credentials on Monday after maintaining their 100% start to the tournament with a 9-0 demolition of Indonesia.

Korea were in control from the start as Lee Dong-nyck’s header and Kim Jin-su’s strike handed the 2002 champions the lead after just five minutes before captain Rim Chang-woo and Lee Jong-ho increased the advantage before half-time.

Lee Jong-ho completed his hat-trick in the second half, while substitute Kim Dong-min netted and Son Heung-min also scored twice as Indonesia failed to deal with the direct attacking style of the more physical Koreans.

On a sun-drenched afternoon in the Uzbekistan capital, Indonesia goalkeeper Yoewanto Beny failed to hold a tame second minute strike from Son Heung-min, but reacted quickly to turn away Lee Jong-ho’s close range follow-up.

But from Lee Chang’s resulting corner, Lee Dong-nyck rose unmarked to send a powerful header past Beny.

And just three minutes later Kim Jin-su was allowed time and space inside the left side of the Indonesia area to curl his strike past an exposed Beny.

Korea added a third as Lee Jong-ho’s 15th minute left sided free-kick was met by defender Rim and the flicked header looped over a stranded Beny for his second goal of the tournament.

The fourth came 17 minutes before the break as Nam Seung-woo crossed for Lee Jong-ho to rise unchallenged on the six-yard line to head past Beny.

Lee Chang should have added a fifth four minutes before the break, but after Kim Jin-su intercepted a pass on the edge of the area to play him in, he pulled his effort across the face of goal before Lee Jong-ho scuffed a shot across the face of the goal onto the post as Korea again found space behind the Indonesia backline.

Nam was denied by Beny and the Indonesia goalkeeper acrobatically turned a rising strike from Kim Dong-jin over the crossbar before Son was allowed space on the edge of the area to fire home a dipping strike for Korea’s fifth five minutes after the hour mark.

Son grabbed a second 10 minutes later with a superb half volley from the edge of the area before Lee Jong-ho rounded off a swift Korea counterattack with 10 minutes remaining.

Substitute Kim Dong-min poked home from close range with four minutes left before Lee Jong-ho completed his hat-trick with a stoppage time header.

Source:The AFC.com