The Japanese have been taking this tournament very seriously as they have been preparing the team from last one and half years and are bidding to be the first team in the history of the competition to win the titles three times.

At the moment countries like Saudi Arabia, Korea Republic and Oman also have two titles on their belt but a win for Japan would make them the first Asian team to win the title three times as two of them came when the tournament was known as AFC U-17 Championship in 1994 and 2006.

In contrast, Uzbekistan’s best came in the year 2010 at their home soil when they managed to reach the final before succumbing to two late goals from DPR Korea to finish runners-up – their best ever finish in the tournament.

Based on history, Japan are clear favourites however Uzbekistan have an upper-hand when it comes to head-to-head against the Japanese.

The Uzbeks managed four wins and a draw against the Japanese in last five matches they have played. However, only one of those win came in a competitive international tournament when they defeated Japan 2-1 ten years ago in 2002 Group Stage of the championship. Other three wins and one draw came in friendly matches played last April in Tashkent and one of those was at an invitational cup tournament in Baku.

“Yes, we had very good outings against the same opponent but this does not mean that we are the favourites on Saturday,” said Uzbekistan coach Dilshod Nuraliyev.

“You are not performing to your best in the friendly as you have to fix many things during those competition, I am sure we will see a different Japanese tomorrow but I know it would be a great match with both the sides having different playing style,” he added.

Yoshitake also agreed Nuraliyev on the prospect of having a mouth-watering final between two distinctly different sides.

“It won’t be easy against the Uzbeks. They have been improving with the progression of the tournament and on Saturday they will try to break our flow and try to hit us on deadly counterattacks, so we have to be in our shield,” said Yoshitake.

Japan are playing in the final first time after they won the competition in 2006 and are determined to win. Similarly the Uzbeks also want to erase the painful memory of the 2010 final which was played in Tashkent.

Goalkeeper Eshbutaev Shokhrukhjon is set to miss the final due to injury for the Uzbeks while defender Khumoyun Agzamov, who was left out on Wednesday’s semi-final, is 50-50 to start or play in the match. With Yoshitake relying on rotation policy, there are no major injury concerns for Japan.