Pak, Japan clash in Asian Games
Bureau Report

LAHORE—Pakistan will take on hot favourites and last edition’s runner-up Japan in Round-2 (Group-F) of 15th Asian Games Soccer at Qatar Sports Club Stadium, Wednesday,tomorrow.
Twenty-four teams Qatar, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates , Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, South Korea, Bahrain, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Thailand, Kuwait, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq, India, Hong Kong, Maldives, China, Oman, Malaysia, Syria, Japan, North Korea and Kyrgyzstan are participating in U23 soccer event of quadrennial Games.
It will be the fourth Pak-Japan international football clash. Pakistan has a proud record against Japan, who are current Asian Champions. Both the teams shared one win in previous three meetings while one match ended in draw. The Doha’s encounter will be first between the two nations in U23 level as the previous three matches were contested between national teams of both nations.
All previous matches, incidentally, were played at Kuala Lumpur’s ancient Merdeka Stadium. The Pakistan-Japan track record commenced on August 10,1960 when Qayyum Changrezi-led Pakistan team registered authoritative 3-1 win over Japanese in 4th Merdeka Cup.
Two years later, the sixth edition of the same event in 1962 provided 1-1 thriller. Japan managed to ink their first win over Pakistan on June 17, 1988 when Mukhtar Ali-led team lost 1-4 in the 9th Asian Cup Qualifier.
The soccer event of 15th Asian Games will use Olympic competition rules for the second time, which means only players under the age of 23 are allowed to compete. However, a maximum of three players who are older than that may also be included in the official squad.
Pakistan’s second encounter will be against Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on December 3 at Qatar Sports Club Stadium while their third match will be against Kyrgyzstan, who replaced Turkmenistan, at Al-Arabi Stadium on December 6.