The match will be held at Zibo Sports Center Stadium, where between 20,000 and 28,000 fans attended each of China’s four qualifying matches at the venue last November. China played their first qualifier at Linzi Stadium, the second venue for the 16-nation AFC U-19 Championship.
Thailand play Syria in the second Group A game on Sunday, while Uzbekistan face DPR Korea and Iraq play Bahrain in Group B at Linzi Stadium. Groups C and D play on Monday.
China’s match against Saudi Arabia could determine the tone of their support for the following games.
“We’ve prepared a long time for the AFC U-19 Championship and our minimum target is to reach the semifinals and qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup next year,” said the 38-year-old Su, who earned over 50 caps for China.
“There’s a lot of pressure on us from media and supporters, especially in Zibo, where there’s a lot of passion for football. However, I experienced the pressure of playing for the national team for a long time, so I’m trying to teach my players to cope with this so they can go out and play their best,” added the former striker.
Su, whose junior career twice featured trials with Manchester United’s youth team, is trying to instill a healthy self-confidence in his side, who have played several of the world’s top national youth teams in preparation for the event.
“We respect all the other teams in our group, but we believe we can win all our games. Officially our target is to reach the final four and qualify for Colombia next year, but my personal target is to reach the final,” said Su, the 1999 Player of the Year in China and part of the 2002 World Cup squad.
Saudi Arabia coach Khalid Abdulrahman Al Koroni admitted facing China was a tough opening test for his side.
“It’s definitely a difficult start to play the hosts in our first match, but while we’re here in China, we intend to play our best and do Saudi Arabian football proud,” he said.
Saudi Arabia hosted the last AFC U-19 Championship in 2008, but lost to eventual champions UAE in the quarters to miss out on last year’s U-20 World Cup.
Japan play the UAE at Zibo Sports Center Stadium on Monday in the opening Group C match, followed by Vietnam against Jordan.
Japan coach Keiichiro Nuno is determined for his side to break the country’s jinx in the competition and finally lift the trophy after reaching the final six times, most recently in 2006 when the side lost on penalties to DPR Korea.
“It’s bad that we’ve been runners-up six times so we really want to win this time, but we know the UAE are strong and are the defending champions,” said Nuno, whose side have beaten Spain, France, Ghana and China in recent friendlies.
“We’re also under pressure to win from the JFA (Japan Football Association), especially after finishing runners-up six times. We’re confident we can win and end this sorry record, although these are young players so it’s difficult to predict.” Korea Republic’s Group D clash with Iran on Monday is one of the high-profile match-ups in the tournament’s ‘Group of Death’, with Australia facing Yemen in the following match at Linzi Stadium.
Korea Republic have won eight of the last 16 editions of the AFC U-19 Championship for a record total of 11 titles, and have also reached eight of the last 10 U-20 World Cups. “As the AFC U-19 Championship is also a qualifier for the U-20 World Cup, this is our first target,” said head coach Lee Kwang-jong. “We’re in the toughest group, but we’re still confident of qualifying for the knockout stage.” Iran coach Ali Doustimehr led his side to victory in the 2008 AFC U-16 Championship in Tashkent, where they beat Korea Republic 2-1 in the final. Although a number of those players are set to meet again on Monday, Doustimehr was wary of bold predictions.
“Korea Republic seem to qualify for the World Cup every time, whether it’s national team or junior competitions,” Doustimehr said. “They’re not just strong at national level but are also among the best youth teams, so this will be a very tough first match.” The group stage will be held from Oct. 3-8. The top two teams from each of the four groups will progress to the quarterfinals, which will be played on Oct. 11, with the semis three days later, and the final on Oct. 17.
The majority of top Asian stars have competed in the AFC U-19 Championship. ‘Graduates’ include Park Ji-sung, Shunsuke Nakamura, Shinji Ono, 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.
