The sixth U23 Asian Cup ended in the early hours of Beijing time on the 30th, with Japan's national Olympic team defeating Iraq's national Olympic team 2-0 in the semi-final of the final stage of the Asian zone of the men's soccer qualifying round for the Paris Olympics, successfully advancing to the Paris Olympics. This is the eighth consecutive time that the Japanese soccer team has entered the final round of the Olympic Games men's soccer. In another match, the Uzbekistan National Olympic Team defeated the Indonesia National Olympic Team 2-0, the "dark horse" stopped, successfully entered the Olympic Games for the first time.
Uzbekistan U23s are undoubtedly the most successful team in the U23 Asian Cup since its inception more than a decade ago, with every even-numbered edition being an Olympic qualifier. Uzbekistan U23s have now reached the final of the U23 Asian Cup three times in the last four editions of the tournament, having won the 3rd U23 Asian Cup in China in 2018. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) believes that the Uzbekistan soccer community, which has been focusing on youth soccer, has established a virtuous cycle in talent scouting and development. Their continued outstanding performances in the U23 Asian Cup and AFC U-Series competitions at all levels are the fruits of quality accumulation of soccer talent.
According to the official data of the AFC, the Uzbekistan National Olympic Team had 62% possession in this game, far superior to their opponents. And their shot count and quality of offense figures were also better than their opponents. In other words, they won the game. In addition, from the first round of the group stage, when they took a two-goal lead over the Malaysian National Olympic Team, until the end of the semi-finals, the Uzbekistan National Olympic Team won five consecutive matches, scoring 14 goals without conceding a single one. This showed that they were the first to qualify for Paris, thanks to impeccable strength.
If the Indonesian national Olympic team can compete with some strong teams by relying on the wisdom of the head coach Shen Tailong and the excellent skills and physical strength of the team of naturalized players, but against the Uzbekistan national Olympic team, which is good at body, speed and strength, the Indonesian team has no possibility to continue to create surprises.
In the following semifinal, the Japanese National Olympic Team defeated the Iraqi National Olympic Team 2-0. Due to the tournament being held on a non-international match day, Asia's strongest Olympic-age teams were not able to gather the highest quality players for the preliminaries and suffered defeats, including the South Korean National Olympic team. However, Japanese soccer has established a channel for exporting first-class international talents and is hardly troubled by the lack of personnel.
In this semi-final match, Shindai Hosoya and Ryotaro Araki scored goals to help the Japanese National Olympic Team advance to the Olympics. This is also the 12th time that the Japanese team has advanced to the final round of the Olympic Games, setting a record for the eighth consecutive time. Japan's Olympic team won a bronze medal in soccer at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, the best result ever achieved by an Asian team in men's soccer at the Olympics.
According to the schedule, this year's Olympic qualifying tournament will feature a final match between the Japanese National Olympic Team and the Uzbekistan National Olympic Team, which will take place on May 3 at 11:30 p.m. BST. Similarly, the third-place match between Indonesia and Iraq will be held on May 2 at 11:30 p.m. BST, with the winner earning a ticket to the Paris Olympics, and the losing team battling it out with fourth-place finisher Guinea from the African zone for the final Olympic berth.
