Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Tehran: DPR Korea coach Paek Kil-song conceded that Japan's slick passing game was a key factor that led to his side's 3-0 defeat in their final Group C match as the defending champions bowed out of the 2012 AFC U-16 Championship.
With both sides having defeated Saudi Arabia and lost to group leaders Korea Republic, Thursday's clash at the PAS Stadium determined who joined the South Koreans in the last eight, with Japan going into the match in second-place above DPR Korea on goal difference.
Fumiya Nakamura opened the scoring with 14 minutes played before a well-taken Taro Sugimoto strike extended Japan's advantage four minutes into the second-half.
Keeper Mizuki Hayashi preserved his side's two-goal cushion when he superbly saved Jon Kum-song's 52nd minute penalty before second-half substitute Hiroki Ogawa sealed the win with nine minutes remaining as Japan joined Korea Republic in the quarter-finals at the expense of the 2010 AFC U-16 Championship winners.
"Japan's passing game was excellent and their individual technique is better than ours. Their passing was the main reason for the victory," conceded Paek, who maintained that his inexperienced side struggled to adapt to the conditions in the Iranian capital.
"The players didn't adapt to the environment here in Tehran and that's why they were unable to play well and express themselves freely on the pitch. But they are still young and there is no stability in their level of play."
Paek's counterpart Yoshitake Hirofumi was delighted with the victory and was particularly pleased with the level of fitness his side has shown since losing their opening game to Korea Republic, who finished their group stage campaign with a 100% record thanks to a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia in Thursday's other Group C fixture
"I am very happy that won today. The main reason behind progression to the quarter-finals is that our physical condition is very good. We saw that in tonight's matches against DPR Korea and in our victory over Saudi Arabia."
Hirofumi, however, did mention that there might have been a very different outcome had Hayashi not saved Jon's spot-kick early in the second-half.
"I have to say that we got lucky when they missed the penalty as it would have been very different at 2-1," he said.
Japan's second-place finish sees them take on surprise Group D winners Syria, who took top spot in their pool with a 1-0 defeat over Uzbekistan in the earlier match at the PAS Stadium.
Meanwhile, Group C winners Korea Republic will look to maintain their unbeaten run when they take on Uzbekistan, who needed India to score a stoppage-time penalty to draw 2-2 with China for them to advance to the last eight at the expense of the Chinese.