The top four teams at the biennial, 16-nation event will
qualify for next year's FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia. Matches will be held
at Zibo Sports Center and Linzi Stadium from Oct. 3-17.
Wu earned his first cap for the China national team as a
substitute in the 2-0 win over Hong Kong in February's East Asian Football
Championship in Tokyo. Last November the Shanghai East Asia forward scored nine
goals in five games as China topped Group G in the AFC U-19 Championship
qualifying competition in Zibo.
Large attendances are expected for the finals after
crowds of between 20,000 and 28,000 attended each of China's four qualifying
matches at the Zibo Sports Center.
Guangzhou midfielder Yang Yihu is another player to watch
after netting seven times in qualifying, while striker Tan Tiancheng and
midfielder Zhang Xizhe are both attached to Beijing Guoan, the reigning Chinese
Super League champions.
China kicks off their campaign against Saudi Arabia on
Sunday and will later face Syria and Thailand in Group A. The hosts will have
to bounce back from recent friendlies that included losses to Brazil, France
and hosts Japan in September's Sendai Cup and defeats by Japan, USA and hosts
Northern Ireland in July's Milk Cup.
Saudi Arabia will look to make up for their
disappointment as hosts of the last AFC U-19 Championship in 2008, when they
were knocked out in the quarterfinals by eventual champions UAE and missed out
on last year's FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt.
Saudi Arabia, who won the title in 1986 and 1992,
finished second behind Iraq in Group C of qualifying.
Thailand's stars include captain Surachet Ngamtip, who
also plays for the senior side under Bryan Robson and joined Bayer Leverkusen's
youth squad earlier this year. Striker Chananan Pombupha, who plays for Police
United, earned his first cap for the national team in May's friendly against
World Cup hosts South Africa.
Syria, who won the title in 1994, have one of the younger
sides in Zibo with a squad based largely on players who competed in the 2008
AFC U-16 Championship in Tashkent, where they reached the quarterfinals.
Group B also starts on Sunday with matches between
Uzbekistan and DPR Korea, and Iraq and Bahrain.
Group C, which kicks off on Monday along with Group D,
features holders UAE, Vietnam, Jordan and Japan, the six-time runners-up
Group D is the 'Group of Death' featuring 11-time winners
Korea Republic, 2008 semifinalists Australia, a highly rated Iran side and
Yemen.
The group stage will be held from Oct. 3-8, with the top
two teams from each of the four groups progressing to the knockout stage. The
quarterfinals will be played on October 11, the semis three days later and the
final on October 17.
The majority of top Asian stars have competed in the AFC
U-19 Championship. Former 'graduates' include Park Ji-sung, Shunsuke Nakamura,
Hidetoshi Nakata and Nashat Akram, while new Japan icon Keisuke Honda and Korean
stars Ki Sung-yueng and Lee Chung-yong competed in recent editions.
