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| AFC U-16 Championship |
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| Asia’s young guns gear-up |
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| Australia (right) and Malaysia, pictured during an AFC U-16 qualifier, are taking part in the AFF U-16 Championship in Jakarta. |
JAKARTA – Five nations who will take part in the 2008 AFC U-16 Championship will gear-up for the 16-team continental showdown by taking part in the AFF U-16 Youth Championship which kicks-off on Wednesday.
Hosts Indonesia, Australia, Bahrain, Malaysia, and Singapore make up the participants in the five-team round-robin tournament in Jakarta, which is seen as the perfect opportunity for the sides to gauge themselves and their opponents ahead of October’s Asian youth meet in Uzbekistan.
“We’ve had no international camp since last year although I will say that we are using this meet as a slow build-up to Uzbekistan,” said Australia coach Martyn Crook, whose side takes on Bahrain in the AFF tournament opener.
“We are looking forward to the competition ahead but we are focusing more on Uzbekistan and using this meet to better prepare our team,” he continued.
Meanwhile Singapore, who are in Group A of the AFC U-16 Championship along with Bahrain, Iran, and hosts Uzbekistan, take on neighbours Malaysia in the second match at the Stadion Lebak Bulus on Thursday, while Indonesia kick-off their AFF campaign on Friday against the Australians.
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