Japan players during their practice session in Kolkata on Wednesday. Photo by: AFC/Stanley Chou

By Chetan Kulkarni

KOLKATA: East Asian rivalry will once again take centre-stage when heavyweights Japan clash with two-time defending champions Korea Republic in the AFC Youth Championship semi-final here at the Salt Lake Stadium on Thursday.

The Japanese have all but the Asian youth trophy in their overflowing trophy cabinet and it was Korea Republic who put paid to their chances of winning the crown two years back in Malaysia.

Japan have been at the unflattering end of the Final scoreline five times in this event but have been regulars at the FIFA World Youth Championship where they lost in the final to Spain in 1999.

Coach Yasushi Yoshida, however, was confident that his charges would not falter this time round as both teams were treating the last four encounter as the Final itself. “Korea Republic is a strong team and it would be like the final match for us. Both the teams have equal chances of winning the game,” he told www.the-afc.com.

Yoshida said: “The Koreans are good at long balls and our defence will have to be more careful.”

The coach will have Tomoyaki Makino and Yohei Fukumoto to choose from as centreback because Masaki Yanagawa, who was warming the bench in Bangalore, had to return to Japan due to club commitments. Yanagawa plays for Vissel Kobe in the J-League Division 2 and the player was released following the club’s request for the crucial play-off against Kashiwa Reysol.

“He was an important back-up player but we had to release him. My players are fit and raring to go.”

Looking at the high-profile game, the Japanese tried some set-pieces and also worked on penalties during their 45-minute training session at the Salt Lake Stadium. “They have many good players and we need to chalk out a plan to stop them,” added Yoshida.

The coach is expected to field his strongest first eleven including Tsukasa Umesaki, who is already a senior team member, Mike Havenaar of the Yokohama F Marinosm, and Sho Ito.

However, their journey to Kolkata for the semi-final was not smooth. They beat DPR Korea (2-0) and Tajikistan (4-0) before going down 1-2 to Iran in the final group match. They topped the group on the basis of better goal difference as DPR Korea and Iran also finished with six points each. In the quarterfinals, a last-minute winner from Kota Aoki saw them through.

Korea Republic, on the other hand, have scored 15 and conceded only one goal so far in this tournament. They defeated Jordan (3-0), Kyrgyzstan (7-0) and India (3-0) in Group A before seeing off Australia 2-1 in the last eight.

This has given coach Cho Dong-hyun enough confidence ahead of the crucial tie. His strikers are in top form with Shin Young-rok topping the goalscorers’ chart jointly with DPR Korea’s Jong Chol-min with four goals. His strike partner Shim Young-sung and midfielder Song Jin-hyung have found the net thrice.

In Jo Su-huk they have the safest pair of gloves of all the teams as he conceded just one goal so far.

“Both the teams play attacking football so our defence line needs to be more careful. I hope for an all-Korea final because it will be a big game for the Koreans,” Cho said at a press conference.

“Due to uneven bounce at the Salt Lake Stadium, the players are having problems in dribbling and passing and due to this we missed many goalscoring chances,” he added.

“Japan is a very organised team and their players have the ability to turn around the match any time.”

The match starts at 1600 hours local time.