6-5！ The Asian Cup is a big cold! The semi-finalists were all born, the penalty shootout, and the Asian champions collapsed out
With Japan's U20 men's 2-0 victory over Jordan's U20 men's team, all four finals of this year's U20 Asian Cup have been produced. They are hosts Uzbekistan, Japan, South Korea and Iraq. Among them, the Uzbekistan U20 men's football team beat Asian champion Australia 6:5, which is the biggest upset. Compared with the national football team, Australia is even worse, after all, the strength of the national football team is there, it is not easy to qualify from the group, and Australia as the favorite to win the championship was knocked out.
In the group stage, the Uzbekistan U20 men's team, the hosts, are unbeaten in three games and advance to the knockout stage in the first place in the group. The Australian U20 men's football team suffered a black start in the first round of the group stage, and was defeated by the Vietnam U20 men's team. But in the next two matches, the Australian U20 men's team won two consecutive matches, beating the Vietnam U20 men's team and advancing second in the group. The Australian U20 men's football team returned to form, especially in the final group game, and it was 9:1 to wash the Qatar U20 men's team. They are also seen as favourites to win this tournament.
Facing hosts Uzbekistan U20 men's team, the Australian U20 men's team started scoring in the second half. Popovich's goal gave the Australian Under-20 men's team the lead. But then, Abdurrakhmatov's surprise arrow helped the Uzbekistan U20 men's team equalize. At the end of extra time, neither side changed the scoreline. In the penalty shootout, the first four rounds were drawn. In the crucial fifth round, Australia's U20 men's Segčić flew in and Rakhmonaliyev hit a solid penalty. Uzbekistan U20 men's team leads 5-4. In the end, they eliminated the Australian U20 men's team 6-5 through a penalty shootout, and broke out the upset. While the Uzbekistan U20 men's team advanced to the semi-finals, it also qualified for the World Junior Championships in Indonesia in May.
In the other match, the Iraq U20 men's team accumulated 4 points from one win, one draw and one loss, and advanced to the second place in the group. The Iran U20 men's team is two wins and one loss, and the first place in the group advanced to the first place. The two teams faced off in knockout matches until regular time when the Iraq Under-20 men's team broke the deadlock. In the end, with this goal, the Iraq U20 men's team eliminated the Iranian U20 men's team 1:0. This means that Iran is also out! The Iraq U20 men's soccer team advanced to the semi-finals and also qualified for the World Junior Championships in May.
The South Korea U20 men's football team won two wins and drew one in the group stage, without conceding a goal, and advanced to the first place in the group. China U20 men's football team won one win, drew and lost one in the group stage, and the second place in the group advanced. In terms of strength, the South Korean U20 men's team is stronger, but the Chinese U20 men's team scored first in the game. The South Korean U20 men's team then equalised on penalties. In extra time, the South Korean U20 men's team scored two goals in a row, and finally they narrowly defeated the Chinese U20 men's team, advanced to the semifinals, and also qualified for the World Youth Championship.
The final four places are produced between the Japan U20 men's team and the Jordan U20 men's team. The Japanese U20 men's team is the only team to win three in a row in the group stage and is also the favorite to win the title. Japan's U20 men's team continued its previous style, beating Jordan U20 men's team by two goals in the second half to advance to the semi-finals and qualify for the World Junior Championship. On March 15, the semi-final matchup will see South Korea U20 men face Iraq U20 men, while Japan U20 will face host Uzbekistan U20 men's team.