At 8:00 p.m. Beijing time on March 23, 2022, the first round of the Group Stage of the Dubai Cup Invitational Tournament began, with Japan U23 vs Croatia U23. In the first half, the Japanese team had a certain advantage on the field, but did not form too good shooting opportunities, the 0-0 score came to the second half, Oda Yutaro scored the only goal of the game, and finally japan defeated Croatia 1-0 and won the opening of the Dubai Cup. Japan's U23 can have such a perfect technical and tactical awareness in the game and the final 1-0 result, which is really the envy of Chinese fans.
Croatia are the only European team in this year's Dubai Cup, and the two teams have not yet played each other in the U23 national match. At the level of Croatia's adult national team, combined with the strength of the Japanese team, this is a contest between the two strongest teams in this Dubai Cup. For croatia, there is also a Croatian national team playing tonight, that is, the Kotudia U19 national team, which will play against the Icelandic U19 national team.
In the first half, the Japanese team played aggressively on the offensive end, and the Croatian team did not seem to be excited enough, perhaps they were not comfortable with the hot weather in West Asia. Within 25 minutes of the first half, Japan had 55% of the ball.
With a 0-0 score to the second half, in the 56th minute, Japan won a corner, Japan U23 almost scored in the melee in front of the goal, but unfortunately played too right, and was eventually confiscated by the goalkeeper.
In the 60th minute, the Japanese team left a long-range shot by striker Fujita Jean and was saved by the goalkeeper, and then the ball fell at the feet of the Japanese player, but the close-up shot was high, and as far as this ball was concerned, it was far more difficult to kick than to kick the goal.
In the first 25 minutes of the second half, the Japanese team almost pressed croatia to play, and the croatian team was almost powerless to fight back. You know, at present, this Japanese U23 team has only 3 players from overseas, and the most famous player is only Reiyang Kokubo, goalkeeper who plays for Benfica. Overseas players such as Jiu Jianying, who played for Majorca in La Liga, were not recruited. Therefore, from the process of this competition, the U23 of Japan has a bright future.
In the 80th minute of the second half, Croatia conceded the goal, the Japanese team played a quick counterattack, after playing a low flat ball on the right side of the 45 degree explosion, Oda Yutaro grabbed the point in front of the goal to hit the goal, and in the end, the 1-0 score was maintained until the end.
This game also set 2 new records. First, this is the first time that a Japanese national team has defeated a Croatian national team; second, Yutaro Oda is playing for the first time for a national team, and this goal is also the first national team goal, which is gratifying.