In the early morning of April 20, Beijing time, a match in Group B of the second round of the U23 Asian Cup was played by the Japanese Olympic Games against the United Arab Emirates. In the end, Japan defeated the United Arab Emirates 2-0, and South Korea accumulated 6 points to qualify together, and also sent the National Olympic Games and the United Arab Emirates out of the tournament one round earlier.
There are a total of 16 teams in the U23 Asian Cup, divided into 4 groups, each group of 4 teams, and the top two teams in each group advance to the top 8 knockout rounds.
Japan won the tournament for the first time in 2016 compared to the UAE's best finish in the quarter-finals, and the tournament is aiming for a top-three finish and a straight run to the Paris Olympics. In the first round of the group stage, Japan defeated the National Olympic Games by one goal and got off to a good start, while the United Arab Emirates lost to South Korea by one goal, so this game became a battle of life and death.
The two teams met in the group stage of the last tournament, when Japan beat the United Arab Emirates 2-1, and now they meet again after two years, Japan have the absolute upper hand, possession of 65% in the half, 11 shots on goal and four on target, and rely on a 28th-minute goal to temporarily lead 1-0, Yamamoto crossed to assist Kimura Seiji to score with a header.
In the second half, Japan continued to lay siege to the UAE backline. In the 63rd minute, Japan scored with a passing match, but it was canceled by the referee because Kawasaki Sata was offside when he received the ball.
In the 66th minute, Kawasaki Sata scored with a header to help Japan expand the score 2-0.
Since then, the UAE still has no power to fight back, and the battle of life and death against Japan is still lost.
In the latest standings, South Korea and Japan have won 2 consecutive games, ranked in the top two due to different goal differences, qualified one round ahead of schedule, and advanced to the top 8 knockout rounds with Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In addition, the National Olympic Games and the United Arab Emirates both lost 2 consecutive games in the opening game, and they were 6 points behind Japan and South Korea in the last round, and missed the top two in the group in advance.
Earlier, the National Olympic Games faced off against South Korea, and finally lost 0-2, suffering 7 consecutive defeats in the U23 Asian Cup, and did not score a goal in 5 consecutive games.
Although 2 consecutive defeats accumulated 0 points to the bottom, the National Olympic Games have not really been determined to be out, but also depends on the results of the game between Japan and the United Arab Emirates, if Japan loses 2 in a row, and the last round of the National Olympic Games defeated the United Arab Emirates, there is a chance to qualify, and now after Japan defeats the United Arab Emirates, it is officially announced that the National Olympic Games are out of the round ahead of schedule, and they will not be able to participate in the Paris Olympics at all.