In the early morning of April 27, Beijing time, the U23 Asian Cup 1/4 finals ushered in the last two games, Uzbekistan defeated Saudi Arabia 2-0, and Iraq defeated Vietnam 1-0. So far, all the top 4 seats have been born, including Japan, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Iraq, the host Qatar, the defending champion Saudi Arabia, and the favorite South Korea 3 teams have been out of the tournament in advance.
Uzbekistan avenges Saudi Arabia 2-0
It was the two sides who met in the last final, when Saudi Arabia defeated Uzbekistan to win the first title after two years, and Uzbekistan is eager to get revenge while keeping their hopes of hitting the Olympics alive.
From the start of the game, the two teams entered a high-intensity and high-intensity rhythm, but there were few threats, until the end of the first half, Uzbekistan broke the deadlock with a fluid combination. In the 45+2nd minute, Faizulaev split the ball and assisted Norchaev to stab a shot into the net from a small angle to help Uzbekistan lead 1-0.
Entering the second half, Saudi Arabia began to fight back frantically, using individual ability and long-range shots to try to create chances many times, but the shooting skills were limited and it was difficult to threaten the Uzbek goal. In the 70th minute, Yahya received a second yellow card and was sent off, which made it even more disadvantageous for Saudi Arabia to play one less. In the 84th minute, Rakhmonaliyev scored a supplementary goal to help Uzbekistan expand the score 2-0, which also lost the suspense of the game.
In the whole game, Uzbekistan shot 9-10 behind Saudi Arabia, but scored 2 goals on target 4 times, Saudi Arabia only scored 1 time on target and did not score, and the efficiency of the two sides was reflected.
This victory not only allowed Uzbekistan to advance to the semi-finals and retain the hope of qualifying for the Olympic Games, but also successfully completed the defeat to Saudi Arabia in the last final.
Iraq eliminated Vietnam 1-0
As the champion of the first tournament, after losing to Thailand in the first round, Iraq defeated Tajikistan and Saudi Arabia in a row to qualify for the top spot in the group, while Vietnam won two consecutive games in the opening game and advanced in advance.
Overall, Iraq had the advantage, controlling the game with 58% possession after the opening, and Vietnam could only find a chance to score through counter-attacks more often. In the first half, both teams created scoring opportunities, but neither took them, and the score was still 0-0.
Heading into the second half, Iraq took the lead in breaking the deadlock. In the 64th minute, Vietnam fouled in the penalty area, Ali Jassim hit the penalty to help Iraq lead 1-0, and then the game progressed, Vietnam fought back wildly, but there was still no shot on target in the first 80 minutes of the game, and one person was sent off at the last moment, and finally lost 0-1 and was eliminated.
On the previous match day, they took the lead in two 1/4 finals, including Japan's 4-2 victory over Qatar, while South Korea was a big upset, and finally lost 10-11 in the penalty shootout, losing to Indonesia with a total score of 12-13 and being eliminated from the Olympics.
After that, all the top 4 seats in this Asian Cup have been released, from various regions, including Japan in East Asia, Indonesia in Southeast Asia, Iraq in West Asia, and Uzbekistan in Central Asia.
According to the regulations, the top three places in this tournament will go straight to the Paris Olympics, and the fourth place will play a play-off with the fourth place in the African zone to compete for the last Olympic ticket.
Our Chinese Olympic Games did not play well, only stopped in the group stage, and missed the knockout round in all 5 participations, and finally locked in 9th place, still creating the best record.