Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Tehran: Korea Republic star Hwang Hee-chan is leading the race to become the top-scorer of the AFC U-16 Championship as his five goals in three matches with a maiden hat-trick of the competition keep him a favourite to walk away with the topscorer’s honours.
Hwang opened the tournament with a bang after netting a hattrick against rival DPR Korea. He also scored against Japan while was rested in Korea Republic’s 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia.
The striker also grabbed a late goal against Uzbekistan in the quarter-final but his missed penalty cost the Koreans the tournament as they packed the bag after the quarter-final.
There are six players at the second position with three goals but only the realistic chance to eclipse Hwang is with Japanese striker Taro Sugimoto.
With Japanese coach Hirofumi Yoshitake’s rotation policy, it is still not clear whether Sugimoto’s services will be required for Japan at all or not on Saturday. The trend in the tournament where Yoshitake has given significant chances to all the members of his squad shows that the ten players he has used in the semi-final are going to sit at the bench against Uzbekistan on Saturday.
Sugimoto did not start against Iraq in Japan’s 5-1 win meaning he is likely to start in the final where he needs hattrick or at least a brace to outwit or match Hwang from the leading goalscorer’s position.