Korea eye 11th crown, China set sights on Holland
(FiFa.com)
Updated: 2004-09-24 16:23

Only five days after the curtain came down on Asian U-17 Championship, the U-19 tournament is set to kick off this Friday in Malaysia. With four berths at the FIFA World Youth Championship Netherlands 2005 up for grabs, the competition, set to run between 24 September and 8 October, is bound to be ferocious.

A berth at Netherlands 2005 is only the first target for defending champions Korea Republic, whose eventual goal will unquestionably be a record eleventh crown. While Japan look the most likely contenders to challenge the Koreans for the title, China - bolstered by their U-17 side's sensational victory in the final a few days ago - look in confident mood to battle it out with the likes of Iran and Qatar.

Given the fact that Korea have been crowned champions ten times in the 45-year history of the continent's junior tournament, formerly known as AFC U-20 Championship, few will question their status as heavy favourites. Plus, the ten-time champions will enjoy a historical edge as they have won all three previous editions of the tournament staged in Malaysia. They overcame the hosts in the opening two events in 1959 and 1960 respectively and, in 1963, they won again on Malaysian soil, sharing the trophy with Myanmar.

Placed at the top of Group D, their major challenger will most likely be Iraq, who have shown their amazing potential in youth football through their U-23's impressive performances in Athens this year. Thailand will also cause some headaches for the holders with their silky skills, while Yemen still look a mystery owing to their few appearances on the international stage.

The holders showed their fine form in a recent friendly with Paraguay, where the South Americans could only manage a 1-1 thanks to a late second half equaliser. Korea's head coach Park Sung-hwa will settle for nothing less than absolute victory. "Our goal is to win the Asian Championship and that is what we will work hard to do,'' he told members of the press before departing for Kuala Lumpur.

China will look to emulate the recent accomplishments of their u-17 counterparts

The confidence of China coach Yin Tiesheng has reached unprecedented highs on the eve of the competition. His charges impressed dutifully in the Toulon Cup this June, where they held hosts France to a goalless draw and stunned Brazil 1-0 in the third-place match. China's juniors kept  up this good form recently by beating Korea Republic in four friendly matches. With Belgium-based Dong Fangzhuo and China international Zhou Haibin taking care of the striking responsibilities, the team are looking to emulate the U-17's recent glories in continental competition.

"We are confident that we will qualify for the World Youth Championship in the Netherlands next year as we are well-prepared," said Yin Tiesheng. "But we have been handed a fairly difficult assignment as our rivals are all very strong."

What worries China's coach most will surely be tough group rivals Qatar and Iran, who both have a large pool of young talent with which to work. And should China advance to the quarter-finals as one of the two top group finishers, they will have to face up to even fiercer competition before moving on to the crucial semi-final stage.

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