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Persianleague
- Oct 12, 2002
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BUSAN, South Korea (AP) — After failing to make the finals of soccer's World Cup, a young Iranian side will be trying to win a fourth Asian Games title when it plays Japan on Sunday. 
The defending champions face a young Japanese lineup which had been widely written off due to a lack of notable stars like Hidetoshi Nakata. 

But Japan's under-21 squad has proven formidable as any other, shutting out Thailand 3-0 in the semifinals. 

South Korea, which lost to Iran in a penalty shootout in the semifinals, will take on Thailand in the bronze medal match Sunday. 

The Japanese team is stocked with young talent from its professional J-League, including Satoshi Nakayama, who is leading the side's scoring with four goals. 

"The match will be as much interesting as any other matchup," said former South Korean national team coach Hur Jung-moo. "Iran is bigger and powerful but lack speed, while Japan has a relatively good passing game." 

The 20-man Iranian squad won last month's LG Cup against Morocco, South Africa and Paraguay. 

The team, however, lacks its star striker Ali Daei, who returned home following the death of his 70-year-old father from a heart attack. 

Daei, a 1998 World Cup veteran and former Munich Bayern striker, led Iran in the preliminaries with three goals. 

Recovering from Thursday's upset, the South Koreans are determined to take the bronze against Thailand. 

Hoping to copy its World Cup semifinal success of three months ago, South Korea called in Park Ji-sung from Japan's pro league to join four other World Cup stars in its under-23 roster. 

"I'm sorry for disappointing the people," said South Korean coach Park Hang-seo. "I will put my players together and win the bronze." 

The bronze medal match also gives South Korea a chance to avenge its surprise quarterfinal loss to host Thailand at the 1998 Asian Games. 

With nine men on the field, Thailand beat the full-strength Koreans with an overtime golden goal. 

Thailand was not overmatched in its loss to Japan, says Thailand coach Peter Withe. 

"I don't think they were three goals better than us," said Withe. 

South Korea's defeat was not only an upset for the soccer-mad fans of the games host, but also for the games organizers trying to boost ticket sales. 

Expecting a South Korea-Japan showdown - a likely sellout - organizers had planned to sell 11,000 closing ceremony tickets tied with tickets to the finals for 250,000 won (US$195) each. 

With some fans demanding refunds, South Korea's semifinal knockout could cost organizers about US$ 2.3 million in lost revenues, officials said.