DUSHANBE, September 15, Asia-Plus - Tajikistan’s young soccer players participating in the Asian Under Seventeen Football Championships in Singapore yesterday lost the game against U17 team from Northern Korea 0-3, according to information from Tajikistan’s Football Federation.

Now, Tajik soccer players will compete with Syrian team for the third place in the championships, according to the source.  Young soccer players from Japan and Northern Korea went to the final and will compete for the first place.   

We will recall that Tajikistan’s U17 soccer team has automatically gained entry to the 2007 FIFA Under Seventeen World Cup that will be held in the Republic of Korea as it qualified for semi-final.  In the semi-final Tajik soccer players defeated U17 team from South Korea 1-0.

The Asian Under Seventeen Football Championships in Singapore kicked off on September 3 and ended on September 17.  The two top teams from each group went forward to the quarter – finals.  The four teams that qualified for the semis automatically gain entry to the 2007 FIFA Under 17 World Cup to be held in the Republic of Korea.

The following teams took part in the Championships: Group A: Japan; Korea Republic; Nepal and Singapore; Group B: Iran; Iraq; Tajikistan and Yemen; Group C: DPR; Myanmar; Korea and Saudi Arabia; and Group D: Bangladesh; Peoples’ Republic of China; Syria and Vietnam.