Indonesia aims for top 4 in U-16 AFC Championship

JAKARTA, April 26 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian U-16 soccer squad aims to reach the top four in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-16 Championship in Malaysia this year, coach Fakhri Husaini said here on Thursday.

The AFC U-16 championship is scheduled to be played from Sept. 20-Oct. 7.

Indonesia is drawn in Group C along with Iran, Vietnam and India.

As all the participating teams are nearly on the same level, so the coach said he asked the country's U-16 team to show their best performance in each and every match.

"The most important thing is that the players must focus in each match and show the best capability and skill," he said in a statement issued by the country's football association.

By meeting the target, the coach said the country's football squad will qualify for the U-17 World Cup next year in Peru.

"Let us work hard to achieve the target," he added.

Indonesian U-17 soccer team has a good track record, winning the JENESYS tournament in Japan last month, according to the association.

The AFC U-16 championship is the biennial international youth football tournament organized by the AFC for the men's U-16 national teams in Asia.

The top four teams in the tournament will progress to the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup as the AFC representatives. Iraq are the defending champions. Enditem