At the crucial moment in the 28th minute, Japan made a clever long pass from the backfield, and Makoto Hosoya made a clever stop and turn to hit a precise shot to break the deadlock and make the score 1-0.
Immediately after that, in the 43rd minute, Japan added another goal to take a 2-0 lead. The front players worked well together and Ryotaro Araki grasped the one-touch opportunity and easily pushed the ball through the goal, successfully breaking through the Iraqi defense.
In the second half of the match, Japan remained in control of the game, defended solidly and effectively neutralized Iraq's counter-attacks.
By eliminating Iraq, Japan returned to the final stage of the Asian Cup after eight years, while locking up a spot in the Paris Olympics ahead of schedule.
The figures show that this is the 12th time Japan has advanced to the Olympics, the eighth in a row, and the Japanese men's soccer team has not missed an Olympics since the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Looking back at the earlier semi-final, Uzbekistan Olympics took on Indonesia Olympics in their first ever meeting. Uzbekistan won 2-0 thanks to a goal by Norchayev and a mistake by the opposing defense, making it five wins in a row and advancing to the final by one goal.
This is the first time in Olympic history for Uzbekistan to qualify for the Olympics. Indonesia, on the other hand, despite its defeat, will also reach its first Olympic final if it finishes third in this tournament.
China's Olympic team finished their group stage campaign early, losing to Japan and South Korea in the first round. In the final round, we beat the UAE with a goal in the battle for honor, ending a seven-game losing streak in the U23 Asian Cup and setting a new best-ever record with a ninth-place finish.
