Defeating Iraq, Japan entered the final of the U23 Asian Cup

On the morning of April 30, U23 Japan defeated U23 Iraq 2-0 in the semi-finals of the 2024 AFC U23 Championship. And U23 Japan will meet U23 Uzbekistan in the final.

Japan U23 celebrates after defeating Iraq U23 in the semi-finals - Photo: AFC

In this match, U23 Japan completely dominated U23 Iraq. In the 2nd minute, midfielder Hirakawa broke through and fell in the U23 Iraq penalty area. But the referee did not blow the whistle for this situation. In the 11th minute, U23 Iraq had a rather dangerous attack. Ali Jasim dribbled the ball skillfully and then shot from outside the penalty area. The ball went quite hard but not too dangerous so goalkeeper Leo Kokubo (Japan) easily blocked it. After that, U23 Japan continuously attacked and shot towards the goal of goalkeeper Hussein Hasan (Iraq). However, it was not until the 28th minute that U23 Japan had the opening goal 1-0 thanks to Hosoya.

It was a beautiful combination. Fujita made a long pass from his own half for Hosoya to control delicately. He turned and eliminated an Iraqi defender before firing a shot past goalkeeper Hussein Hasan. Having broken the deadlock, U23 Japan continued to attack and scored another goal in the 42nd minute. Ohata dribbled the ball quickly on the left wing and passed to Fujita. And this player intelligently passed the ball to Araki to coolly finish into the far corner to score the goal to raise the score to 2-0 for Japan. That was also the final score of the match. In the second half, both teams actively attacked but no more goals were scored. Two times the ball hit the Iraqi goal post after Yamada's shots in the 48th minute and Hosoya's in the 66th minute. U23 Iraq also had a situation where the ball hit the crossbar of Blnd Azad's Japanese goal in the 74th minute. With this score, U23 Japan entered the final of the tournament for the second time. And they will meet U23 Uzbekistan in the final match taking place on May 3. Meanwhile, U23 Iraq will meet U23 Indonesia on May 2 in the bronze medal match. This is also a match with significance for the ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

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