The semi-final wins sealed both teams’ spots at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Japan and Uzbekistan have advanced to the Qatar AFC U-23 Asian Cup final, with the two teams also securing a spot at the Olympic Games in Paris this year.
Japanese fans have Mao Hosoya and Ryotaro Arak to thank as the two-star players pulled in the first half in the 2-0 win over Iraq at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium on Monday.
Hosoya put the 2016 champions in front in the 28th minute, and Araki doubled the lead minutes later, pushing out an Iraqi team that needed to implement a proper defensive strategy.
“Today we tried to play two different halves, we wanted to draw in the first half and in the second half surprise the Japanese. But unfortunately this is very difficult when you play against the Japanese. The second half was risky and the Japanese had more opportunities to score than us,” Iraq’s coach Radhi Shenaishil said after the game.
Despite the loss, Iraq still hopes to qualify for the Olympic Games, which will rest on Thursday’s playoff with Indonesia.
“We came here to go to the Olympic Games, we never mentioned that we would be in the final. We’re happy where we are now and we still have a chance to forget this game and go forward to the Olympics,” Shenaishil said.
“We know the Indonesia team is a very difficult team and they’re among the top four teams because they did well in the group stages, but we’re looking forward to playing Indonesia and winning,” he added.
On Thursday, the losing team will have one final chance to qualify for Paris 2024 via a playoff against Guinea on May 9 in Paris.
Meanwhile, Japan joins Uzbekistan in securing one of the three spots at the Paris Games with a victory.
Uzbekistan will return to the final and is expected to be a difficult team for the Japanese squad.
“I think the difference between last time and this time is that we are very focused on the final and we’re also proud of today’s result. Unfortunately two years ago we lost to Uzbekistan so we need to prepare well for the next match,” Japan coach Go Oiwa said in his post-game conference.
