Sixth U23 Asian Cup ends with Japan and Uzbekistan advancing to Paris Olympics
The 6th U23 Asian Cup came to an end in the early hours of 30th Beijing time. In the semifinals of the Asian final stage of the men's soccer qualifying tournament for the Paris Olympics, Japan's national Olympic team defeated Iraq's national Olympic team by a score of 2-0 and advanced to the Olympics. This is the eighth consecutive time that the Japanese soccer team has reached the final round of the Olympic men's soccer tournament. Meanwhile, the Uzbekistan National Olympic Team defeated the Indonesia National Olympic Team 2-0 to reach the Olympic Games for the first time.
Uzbekistan U23s have undoubtedly been the brightest team in the U23 Asian Cup since its inception over a decade ago, appearing in the Olympic qualifiers in every even-numbered edition of the tournament. Uzbekistan U23s have reached the final of the U23 Asian Cup three times in the last four editions of the tournament and won the 3rd U23 Asian Cup held in 2018. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) believes that a virtuous circle has developed in Uzbekistan's soccer community in terms of youth soccer efforts, and that their continued excellence at all levels of the game is the result of a quality accumulation of soccer talent.
According to the official data of the AFC, the Uzbekistan National Olympic Team had 62% of the ball in the match, far more than their opponents. The number of shots on goal and the quality of their offense were also superior to that of their opponents. Starting from the first round of the group stage with a two-goal lead over the Malaysian National Olympic Team, the Uzbekistan National Olympic Team won five consecutive matches in the semi-finals, scoring a total of 14 goals without conceding a single goal. This shows that they won the tournament with strength and qualified first for Paris.
Although the Indonesian national Olympic team, under the leadership of Coach Shin Tae Ryong, has been able to compete with some strong teams by relying on the excellent skills and physical strength of the naturalized players, there is no possibility for the Indonesian team to create surprises when facing a strong team like the Uzbekistan national Olympic team.
The Japanese National Olympic Team won the semifinal match against the Iraqi National Olympic Team with a score of 2-0. Due to the fact that the tournament was scheduled on a non-international match day, the national Olympic teams were unable to gather the best quality players for the preliminaries and suffered losses, including the Korean national Olympic team. However, Japanese soccer has established a channel for exporting top-notch international talent and is hardly plagued by a shortage of personnel.
At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico, the Japanese National Olympic Team won a bronze medal in soccer, the best result ever achieved by an Asian team in the men's soccer event at the Olympics. This success in advancing to the final round of the Olympic Games is also the 12th time that the Japanese team has advanced to the final round of the Olympic Games, a record eighth consecutive advancement.
This year's Olympic qualifiers will see the final between the Japanese National Olympic Team and the Uzbekistan National Olympic Team, which will take place on May 3, starting at 11:30 p.m. BST. Similarly, the third-place playoff between the Indonesian and Iraqi national Olympic teams will take place on May 2 at 11:30 p.m. GMT, with the winner earning a ticket to the Paris Olympics and the losing team battling it out with fourth-place finisher Guinea in the African zone for the final Olympic berth.
