By Tan Boon Piaw

SINGAPORE: Japan coach Hiroshi Jofuku has admitted that his team is still searching for its best defensive form in the AFC U-17 Championship. Japan emerged unbeaten from Group A with two wins and a draw. The “Little Samurais” thrashed Nepal 6-0 in the opener, but hosts Singapore halted their march towards the last eight with a 1-1 draw, before they narrowly beat Korea Republic 3-2 in the last game to secure their spot in the knock out stage. Former FC Tokyo tactician Jofuku wants his team to defend in a unit, in order to shut down their tricky quarterfinal opponents, Iran. “In terms of individual ability, Iran are the best in this tournament. They are skilful, fast and attack minded. To beat them, we have to be at our best in defence.” “Frankly, our central defenders (Sho Yamaji, Kimihiro Kai and Mizuki Hamada) aren’t convincing and they were error-prone and vulnerable in the three matches they played so far. They must work extra hard to prevent the Iranians from scoring.” The two teams met at the Tehran Invitational in May last year, with Iran emerging victorious narrowly 4-3. According to Jofuku, injury-free Japan, will go all out for an early kill. “I strongly believe that the team which scores first will have the upper hand in this match. One goal will be enough to determine who will qualify for the semifinals.” “As I mentioned before the tournament, I am not a gambler, and I don’t want to see my team miss the bus to the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Korea Republic next year. God knows who will be the best losers of the quarterfinals. I don’t want to take any risk.” Japan take on Iran in the first quarterfinal at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Monday.