On April 20, Beijing time, in another group stage of Group B of the U23 Asian Cup that had just ended, Japan U23 and the United Arab Emirates U23 fought fiercely for 90 minutes, and finally the Japanese team scored one goal in each half and won the opponent 2-0. The Japanese team, which won two consecutive games, joined hands with South Korea U23 to qualify for one round ahead of schedule, which also means that the Chinese Olympic Games are out of the tournament one round ahead of schedule and officially miss the Paris Olympics, and the final game may set an embarrassing record of 0 goals for two consecutive years.
In the first round, Japan Under-23s were sent off by a goal, but they still got off to a flying start with a 1-0 win over the Olympic team. Against the UAE Under-23s, Japan continued to play very well, with Seiji Kimura's goal in the 27th minute giving them a 1-0 lead in the first half.
In the 60th minute of the second half, Japan scored another goal, but VAR intervened and ruled that the goal was cancelled for offside. In the 66th minute, Kawasaki's goal still gave them a 2-0 lead. UAE Under-23s tried to equalise but were unable to do so, and Japan won 2-0.
After this game, the Japanese team won two consecutive group stage victories. Because in the earlier game, South Korea U23 also defeated the National Olympic Games 2-0, so Japan and South Korea, which have 6 points, qualified one round ahead of schedule, and now the only suspense is who is the first in the group.
After waiting for 150 minutes, the National Olympic Games also ushered in the expected ending, with one round ahead of schedule and failing to qualify for the group for five consecutive U23 Asian Cups. At the same time, they are officially out of the Paris Olympics, and for the 16th year in a row.
After an early exit, the final round of the Olympic Games against the UAE Under-23s turned into a pure battle of honour, but they still need to avoid another embarrassing record.
Counting the last U23 Asian Cup, the national Olympic team has not scored in 5 consecutive games, and if there is no goal in the last round of this year's game with the United Arab Emirates, then they will have 0 goals in two consecutive Asian Cups, and they will also become another team after the national football team to score 0 goals in the Asian Cup, this result will undoubtedly make people desperate.
So in the last game, the lads still need to do their best, not only to score goals, but also to go all out to win, try to avoid the embarrassing record of two consecutive 0-0 goals, and keep even a glimmer of hope for everyone.