Both Vietnam and Japan need to win today to avoid an early exit after they lost their opening games two days ago in Group C of the AFC U-19 Championship 2014.

However, the chances for Vietnam to win are slimmer than those of their Japanese rivals at this Asian championship, which kicked off on October 9 and will close on October 23 in Myanmar, according to experts.

French coach Guillaume Graechen of Vietnam admitted that, “Our 0-6 loss to South Korea two days ago showed our weakness in defense, and we must improve this to have a good result in the Japan game.

“This will be a very harsh clash because both Vietnam and Japan were beaten in their opening matches.”

Japan lost 1-2 to China and South Korea hammered Vietnam 6-0 on Thursday.

It is expected that Graechen will make some changes in the midfield and attacking formation of the starting XI for the Japan match on Saturday.

During a training session yesterday, midfielder Xuan Truong was replaced by Thanh Hau, midfielder Thanh Tung took the place of Van Long, Quang Hai was substituted by midfielder Van Duc, and Minh Vuong was paired with Cong Phuong in the front line.

In a talk with the media, Japanese coach Suzuki Masakazu said briefly, “I believe Japan will defeat Vietnam to win a ticket to the quarterfinals.”

In the other Group C match today between South Korea and China, the winners will secure a spot in the last-eight round. Vietnam have lost all three of their encounters with Japan this year: they were routed 0-7 at a friendly tournament in Ho Chi Minh City in January, and conceded 2-3 and 0-1 defeats at the AFF Nutifood U-19 Cup in Hanoi last month.

The Vietnam-Japan game will be televised on Vietnamese channel VTV6 at 4:00 pm (Vietnam time). The South Korea-China clash will start at 7:00 pm.

Sixteen teams are placed in four groups at the AFC U-19 Championship 2014, with games played in Yangon and Naypyidaw.

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