Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Ras Al Khaimah: Head coach Mohammed Jouma is hoping that the sizeable contingent of Syrians based in the UAE will come out and back his team as they take on Uzbekistan in Sunday's AFC U-19 Championship quarter-final.
The young Syrians were taken by surprise by the number of their compatriots in the crowd at in the Fujairah Stadium stands on Thursday and Jouma believes that it may have had an unsettling effect on his side as they crashed to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Qatar as they finished runners-up to Australia in Group D.
But with the Syrian players knowing what to expect on Sunday, Jouma anticipates a different reaction from his young charges, with the fans potentially inspiring his team to victory over the Uzbeks and with it, a place at next year's FIFA U-20 World Cup.
"The presence of the large numbers of Syrian supporters working in the UAE in our last match distracted the players," he said.
"But we are not expecting the same reaction on Sunday and this time they will spur on our players as they will now be used to playing in front of a huge number of fans.
"We are not scared of losing and I would like to assure Syrians fans that you will be watching good, attractive and attacking football from our side.
"Uzbekistan came here to win just as we did and with a place in the World Cup at stake Sunday's match will be like a final."
Syria have been one of the revelations of the tournament but performing consistently is the big problem for the West Asians. They kicked off the campaign with a bang hitting five past Saudi Arabia and held 2010 AFC U-19 Championship runners-up Australia to a draw in the second match before falling a little bit flat as they rounded off their group stage campaign against Qatar.
One positive note from the match was the consolation goal from Mahmoud Al Mawas, whose 68th minute penalty took his individual tally to five in three games following his strike against the Young Socceroos and his hat-trick in his virtuoso display in the 5-1 win over Saudi Arabia.
Al Mawas' five goals is equal to Uzbekistan star Igor Sergeev and with the tournament's top two marksmen going head-to-head at the Fujairah Stadium Sunday's showdown could be a high-scoring affair.
After eliminating the defending champions DPR Korea from the tournament, Uzbekistan have been earmarked as one of the favourites for the AFC U-19 Championship as the Central Asians look to complete a continental youth double after their triumph at the AFC U-16 Championship.
Uzbekistan coach Akhmadjan Musaev, however, is taking nothing for granted ahead of the clash with the unpredictable Syrians.
Uzbekistan started the tournament with a 4-0 win over Vietnam but were held to a 2-2 draw by a spirited Jordan side in the second match. Their performance of the tournament came on Thursday when they produced a master-class performance to beat DPR Korea 2-0, with goals from tournament's joint leading scorer Sergeev and Timur Khakimov.
"There is no difference between the eight teams in the quarter-finals and we all have aspirations to win the title," Musaev said.
"After winning the AFC U-16 Championship title and performing excellently in this competition so far people are seeing that work that we are doing in grassroots football back home.
"We have seen Uzbek football coming up over the years and we have high hopes on this crop of players as we have a very talented team, many of who can go on and play at the highest level.
"But having said that, I am not expecting an easy match against Syria. They have produced some stunning results in this competition."