Japan drawn to tough group in FIFA Under-17 World Cup
Japan will play African champions Nigeria, CONCACAF champions Haiti and European semifinalists France in the FIFA Under-17 World Cup from August 18 to September 9 in Korea Republic, it was announced at the draw in Seoul on Thursday.
In the 24-team tournament, Japan, who qualified by winning the Asian title, will meet
Haiti first on August 19 before playing Nigeria on August 22, both in Gwangyang, and
France on August 25 in Goyang.
Japan have previously lost twice to Nigeria (2-1 in the quarterfinals of the 1993 World
Championship and 4-0 in the group stage of the 2001 contest), and were beaten 5-1 by
France in the group stage of the 2001 tournament.
The top three finishers from each group will advance to the Round of 16 slated for August
29-30. The quarterfinals will take place on September 1-2, the semifinals on September 5-6
and the final and third-place playoff on September 9 at Seoul World Cup Stadium.
Japan Under-17 coach Hiroshi Jofuku said, "We've been drawn to a very tough group. How
much we can play our own football will be the key to our success. We'd like to do our best
and play as many games as possible there."
Japan will be making their fourth appearance in the tournament.
Groups:
Group A—Korea Republic, Peru, Costa Rica, Togo
Group B—DPR Korea, England, Brazil, New Zealand
Group C—Honduras, Spain, Argentina, Syria
Group D—Nigeria, France, Japan, Haiti
Group E—Belgium, Tunisia, Tajikistan, United States
Group F—Colombia, Germany, Trinidad and Tobago, Ghana
http://www.jfa.or.jp/eng/news/news/070517_10.html
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