After more than half a month of fierce competition, the 2024 U23 Asian Cup came to an end not long ago. In the last final, the Japanese team defeated the Uzbekistan team 1-0. After a lapse of 8 years, the Japanese team once again Won the U23 Asian Cup championship trophy and became the new king of the Asian U23 field!
In this U23 Asian Cup, the Japanese team went all the way. After successively defeating the host Qatar team and the Iraqi team, the Japanese team successfully reached the final. The other team that entered the finals was the Uzbekistan team from Central Asia. In this tournament, they won all 5 games without conceding a goal. Their performance on both offense and defense was perfect. However, in this final, Uzbekistan's top star Faizulaev was absent due to injury, which also paved the way for their final defeat.
Although in this game, the Uzbekistan team has an advantage in terms of ball possession rate, number of shots and threatening attacks, it was the Japanese team that scored the first goal. In the 91st minute, Yamada Fengxi hit the ground with a kick from outside the penalty area and flew directly into the dead center of the goal, 1-0! The Japanese team takes the lead! However, at the last moment of the game, the Uzbekistan team also got a good chance to score. Japanese defender Daiki Sekine committed a handball foul in the penalty area and gave his opponent a penalty kick. Unfortunately, Rakhmonaliev's penalty ball was saved by Japanese goalkeeper Reo Kokubo. In the end, the Japanese team defeated the Uzbekistan team 1-0 and won the championship trophy without any danger!
As the final came to an end, the rankings of this U23 Asian Cup were officially finalized. The Japanese team, Uzbekistan team and Iraq team ranked in the top three. They also got tickets to the Paris Olympics. The super dark horse Indonesian team, which unexpectedly reached the semi-finals in its first competition, finally finished fourth. The Indonesian team will gain a spot in the play-offs to compete for the final Olympic quota!
As for the Chinese team that everyone is most concerned about, because it was assigned to the death group of the Japanese team and the Korean team, the Chinese team did not break out of the group stage. However, in the last group match, the Chinese team defeated the United Arab Emirates 2-1, ending the team's 2,289-day scoring drought. This victory against the United Arab Emirates was also the first time the Chinese team won in the U23 Asian Cup in 6 years. With this rare victory, the Chinese team finally won the 9th place in the tournament. In the next tournament, we hope to compete in the qualifiers as the first team!
hopes that in the next U23 Asian Cup, the Chinese men's football team can achieve a breakthrough and enter the knockout rounds for the first time!
