Japan locked up a berth in the Paris Men's Olympic Football Tournament after a strong performance in the quarterfinals of this year's U23 Asian Cup, beating Iraq by two points, :0, with goals from Shindai Hosoya and Ryotaro Araki.
The Blue Samurai took advantage of the extra day of rest before the game so that he could dominate the entire game both offensively and defensively. One of the things that was very impressive was the quality of passing that Fujita allowed up front.
He will inevitably play the role of Japan's key man in this final, where middle-of-the-road composure will be important against a formidable opponent like Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan also so:0 beat rivals Indonesia and made history by participating in the Olympic Games for the first time in soccer.
In this battle, they once again showed great quality and were very consistent on offense and defense. And they have been full of power in every game this year, playing quite well.
With 14 goals scored and none conceded so far, the key is that they need to follow through with their team's style of play in this battle. If they can avoid conceding first, they have a chance to win. And indeed, Nauchaff has been in a brave situation lately, which will cause a lot of problems for the Japanese defense.
Both sides have made huge strides in their progression, beating some formidable opponents before reaching the final. However, I think Japan will be able to lock up an extra time win and manage to beat Uzbekistan.
