In the early morning of April 18, Beijing time, the first round of the group stage of the U23 Asian Cup continued, and all the two games in Group D ended, with Uzbekistan winning 2-0 against Malaysia and Vietnam defeating Kuwait 3-1. So far, the first round is over, Japan, South Korea, Uzbekistan, and Saudi Arabia have all won the championship, but China has lost.
In recent years, Uzbekistan's youth training has improved by leaps and bounds, and has won the Asian Cup in many age groups, including the first U23 Asian Cup in 2018, and the last tournament also reached the final, and finally lost to Saudi Arabia and missed out on the championship. Malaysia is in their third appearance compared to Uzbekistan, with their best result being reaching the quarter-finals in 2018, although the last tournament ended in the group stage.
According to statistics, the two teams have never played each other in history, including the qualifying stage, and are relatively unfamiliar to both sides.
The game was played and completely one-sided, with Uzbekistan firmly in control. In the 11th minute of the first half, Janolidinov scored a penalty to give Uzbekistan a 1-0 lead, and in the second half, Malaysia, who were on the trailing side, were unable to fight back and conceded another goal in the last minute. In the 83rd minute, Norchaev assisted Hosimov to score a goal, helping Uzbekistan seal the win 2-0 and easily get off to a good start.
Statistically, Uzbekistan had 69% possession and completed 19 shots on goal with 6 on target, while Malaysia had only 2 shots on goal and none on target.
In the other match in the same group, Vietnam played Kuwait, and the two teams also met for the first time. In first-half stoppage time, the two teams played hard, with Vietnam scoring the first goal before Kuwait equalised from the penalty spot, while one player from each team was sent off.
Shortly after the start of the second half, Vietnam took the lead again thanks to Bui Wei Hao's goal. In the 76th minute, Pei Weihao scored another goal to complete the double ring, helping Vietnam win the game 3-1, with Uzbekistan with 3 points, relying on the advantage of goals to reach the top of the list.
According to the schedule, the Chinese Olympic team led by Cheng Yaodong will usher in the second group stage, and the kick-off time is April 19 at 9 p.m. against the South Korean Olympic team.
In the first round of the group stage, the national Olympic team still failed to score under the advantage of playing one more person for a long time, and finally lost to Japan by one goal and suffered a black start, so in the second round of facing South Korea, we must score 3 points to change from passive to active and retain the hope of impacting the Olympic Games.