On April 30, Beijing time, in the two key matchups in the semifinals of the U23 Asian Cup, Japan defeated Iraq 2-0, and Uzbekistan eliminated Indonesia 2-0. As a result, Japan and Uzbekistan will compete for the championship in the final, and both teams will qualify for the men's football competition at the Paris Olympics. Iraq will face Indonesia for third place and the last place to qualify directly for the Olympics.
Japan National Olympic - Iraq National Olympic Games
Last year's third-placed Japan played extremely strongly, not only gaining possession advantage quickly, but also tearing apart the opponent's defense with flexible movement on the flanks on many occasions. Yu Hirakawa and Shindai Hosoya continued to suppress the threats on the left flank. In the face of Japan's midfield control and frequent backcourt penetration, Iraq's defensive pressure on the right side was huge, and it could only put pressure on the opponent with defensive counter-attacking tactics, but the lack of effective side-center combination limited its offensive efficiency. In contrast, Japan continued to strike precisely at the back of their defence and completely controlled the tempo of the game. In the middle of the half, Japan's continuous offensive broke through the defense again, and Hosoya Shindai received a long pass to stop the ball and turned to push the ball to take the lead. Iraq's defences are becoming increasingly stretched under sustained pressure. Before half-time, multiple people played a perfect pass and ran to tear open the gap in the defensive line, and Ryotaro Araki once again penetrated the opponent's door to extend the lead.
Japan repeatedly besieged and shot in front of the penalty area in the second half, and the Iraqi goalkeeper made consecutive saves to block the opponent's attack. After successive substitutions, Iraq temporarily suppressed its opponents with a ferocious offensive. Japan's defensive line was solid, leaving no chance for the opponent to score, but penetrated the defense many times to create a threat to the goal, and the two sides opened wide and closed to play a confrontational posture, but they lacked crosshairs and failed to score. In the end, Japan defeated Iraq 2-0 to advance to the final, and won the Olympic ticket for the eighth time in a row.
Indonesia - Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan played dominantly and quickly took the initiative, taking possession of the ball as soon as they came up and pressing Indonesia deep at the back, with Odirov and Faizulaev taking turns to shoot from distance to get off to a bad start. The two lines of defense in the back of the Indonesian are closely connected, limiting the penetration of the opponent's short passes to a certain extent, and the five-man defense widens the width of the defense while limiting the bombing of the opponent's wings. However, Indonesia's attack was also limited by this, with insufficient strength in the front, and rapid counter-attacks were constantly blocked and suppressed, so they could only rely more on Suleiman's active performance on the left flank to fight for set-piece opportunities. Faizulaev's brilliant play almost became the engine of Uzbekistan's attack, not only delivering high-quality long-range shots himself, but also creating great chances for his team-mates on a number of occasions, with Abdulev's powerful shot hitting the post and Erkinov's header being saved, just a little away from the goal.
Entering the second half, Uzbekistan made substitutions and adjustments to further strengthen the offensive. However, Indonesia had their best attack in a passive situation, with Ferrari seizing a set-piece opportunity to fire home from the edge of the six-yard box, however, VAR intervened and ruled offside. Uzbekistan took advantage of the opponent's psychological fluctuations to play a sharp side attack, and Nochaev grabbed a volley in front of the goal to take the lead. After taking the lead, the Uzbek offensive continued unabated, hitting the woodwork twice, and the luck was indeed almost meaningless. Being suppressed for a long time and falling behind by one goal made the Indonesian players psychologically unbalanced, and Ratani was sent off for a malicious foul and was sent off with a red card, making the team lose and lose. In the final stage, Nochaev scored an own goal by hitting the post, and finally Uzbekistan easily defeated Indonesia 2-0 to advance to the final, and the team entered the Olympic men's football match for the first time in history.
The final two matches of the Asian Cup have been settled, with Japan vs Uzbekistan in the finals and Iraq vs Indonesia in the third-place match. The winners, runners-up and runners-up will qualify directly for the 2024 Olympic Games, and the fourth place will participate in the play-offs for the final qualification.