Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Tehran: Iraq coach Muwafaq Hussein Zaidan has an old score to settle against Japan as he believes that the previous failures against Japan will be a source of inspiration for the Iraqis in their Wednesday’s semi-final against Japan.
Iraq has never won the AFC U-16 Championship competition even before 2006 when it was AFC U-17 Cup and they were looking likely to break the hoodoo in the 2010 but Japan scored two second half goals to defeat Iraq 3-1 in the quarter-final in Uzbekistan.
There is no denying the fact that coach Zaidan would return happily from this tournament after securing a berth for the FIFA U-17 World Cup next year, his target is to win the tournament which would be the first title-triumph for the Iraqis in this age-category.
“We are desperate to win this tournament and will go all out tomorrow against a very good and organized Japanese side,” he told www.the-afc.com.
“We have not forgotten how the Japanese broke our heart in 2010 in Uzbekistan and I am sure that defeat in the quarter-final two years ago will inspire us tomorrow.
“We have been playing good matches in the tournament but with the progress of the tournament this side is also showing great coordination and understanding, so there are high chances on Wednesday that our standard will get raised than the previous matches,” he said.
Iraq are unbeaten in the competition and they comfortably defeated Kuwait in the Sunday’s quarter-final 3-1. A late red card for defender Mahdi Abdulzahra means he will be out of the Wednesday’s clash due to suspension otherwise there is no any injury concern for Zaidan.
Japan also don’t have any problem in suspensions and injuries but the gruelling match against Syria was played six hours after Iraq match on Sunday giving the Japanese less time to recover.
However, coach Yoshitake Hirofumi is not concerned with those statistics. “If you are side with title inspirations, you have to prepare well, play well and win, there are no other excuses,” said Hirofumi.
“We respect Iraq and they are very good sides and we play in different styles so this match would be very interesting and competitive.
“Earlier, our focus was to secure a berth in the U-17 World Cup but not it has been switched to the title of the tournament proper so there would equal commitments and efforts on Wednesday, if not more,” he added.