By Tan Boon Piaw SINGAPORE: Korea Republic are worried about being out-muscled by their physically superior Tajik rivals in the quarter-finals of the AFC U-17 Championship. Korea Republic coach Park Kyung Hoon didn’t deny the fact that his team doesn’t fancy playing against taller and bigger opponents. The only experience this Korean team has of playing against such teams came in the just concluded Toyota Cup when they held Croatia to a 1-1 draw. Should the junior Taeguk Warriors qualify for the semifinals, the third and fourth play-off match will be replaced by the best two losers of the quarterfinals. The top four teams in this tournament represent Asia in the FIFA U-17 Championship in Korea Republic next year.

Korea Republic are keen to give away this favour, and at the same time, are aiming to be the champions here to boost their confidence for next year’s world meet. For the record, Korea Republic beat hosts Singapore 3-1 in their first match in Group A before winning 2-0 against Nepal next to qualify to the last eight. A 3-2 lost against Japan relegated them to the runners-up position in the group and pitted them against Tajikistan, who won all their Group B matches, in the quarterfinals.

Park is wary of the offensive minded Tajiks though both teams are meeting for the first time at this level. With both preferring an open attacking style, a goal galore is expected. “Tajikistan is like a European team, tall, strong, big, and hard. To beat them is not an easy task. We might not be able to match them individually, but I have a plan to get something from them.” Park said. Park said he found it hard to motivate the team since they are pressure-free after automatic qualification for the FIFA U-17 Championship as hosts. “I don’t have any outstanding player in my team. And compared to the last squad, this team lacks in quality and is very inconsistent. For us, every game is a learning experience, we will try our best to do the nation proud.”