Japan, which is aiming to win the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup, beat the United Arab Emirates 2-0 in the second Group B match on Tuesday. This will be followed by Japanese media's praise. Japan, which had to deal with China in the first Group B match, changed seven of the best 11 starters to play in the match against the UAE on the day. The UAE is Korea's toughest opponent in the first match.

This gives a glimpse of Japanese soccer's confidence. "The competition is long and I think the players have to rotate. There was no anxiety as we prepared with many combinations," said Rihito Yamamoto of Japan, who wore the captain's armband on the day. "Despite significant changes in starting members at the match against the UAE, we could not find any signs of shaking or nervousness, and the team displayed solid play at the pitch," Japanese media reported. "The national team's plan is that whoever goes out, we can win. Whichever team we form with, Hajime Moriyasu of the A team is planning, but it is not easy to make it a reality. However, the U-23 team is implementing it on the grand stage where its participation in the Paris Olympics will be at stake."

The match between Korea and Japan was made on the way to the 2024 Paris Olympics finals.

The national team, led by head coach Hwang Sun-hong, will face Japan for first place in the group in the third Group B match of the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-23 Asian Cup at 10 p.m. on the 22nd at Jasim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar.

It is a match against Japan that even Rock-paper-scissors cannot be lost, but Hwang feels a lot of pressure. Japan is considered the top contender for the title in this year's event. The two teams that defeated the UAE and China in Group B are tied for the lead in the group with six points and a goal difference of +3. The result will be a match to determine the winner of the group, which will determine the opponent team of the quarterfinals. The second place in the group will put pressure on the host country Qatar, who is also the winner of Group A, to meet with the winner in the quarterfinals.

The Japanese soccer team is confident that it is the strongest team in Asia and has focused on "world level." Oiwa Ko's national team by age also managed the team early on with the goal of the Paris Olympics in mind. At the U-23 Asian Cup two years ago and the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, the team has already made preparations for the Paris Olympics with players almost two years younger than the standard age.

Nevertheless, the team gave a humiliating defeat to the Korean soccer team. In the quarterfinals at the U-23 Asian Cup two years ago, the team was completely defeated by Japan 0-3 despite Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain), who claimed "the hope of Korean soccer." The Japanese national team this time includes a considerable number of its members. Striker Hosoya Mao (Kashiwa Reysol), who scored the second goal at the time, Takashi Uchino (Dusseldorf), Sato Gain (Bredder Bremen), Matsuki Kuryu (FC Tokyo), and Fujio Shota (FC Machida) will participate in the event to aim to win the championship.

In the Asian Games, South Korea won 2-1, but since it is a competition with military service benefits, a large number of European players such as Lee Kang-in, Jung Woo-young (Suitgart), and Hong Hyun-suk (Hent) participated in the Korean national team, and it was thanks to the formation of a strong team that is hard to see at the Asian Games level. Nevertheless, the content of the game was not easy, giving up the first goal. Japan's rise declined once at this time, but rebounded again in November last year by defeating the world-class powerhouse Argentina U-23 national team 5-2.

Korea, which has to confront Japan's sophisticated and fast teamwork football, has many concerns. In the match against China, Suh Myung-kwan (Bucheon) suffered a hamstring injury, and Byun Jun-su (Gwangju) failed to play in the match against Japan due to accumulated number of warnings, creating a hole in the center back line. Another disadvantage is that Korea has increased dependence on Lee Young-joon (Kimcheon) for simple attack patterns.

"Japan is a team that has been building teamwork for a long time, so based on the form of teamwork, it is considered to be at the top of the list among countries participating in the championship. There is a tendency to make opponents difficult because there is a lot of diversity in forward pressure or various build-up systems. I think we need to be vigilant in terms of speed as well," Hwang said. If Korea and Japan draw the same goal difference and multiple points, they will kick a penalty shootout immediately without extra time to determine the top place in the group according to the rules of the championship.

The most important thing for advancing to the finals of the Olympics for 10 consecutive times is to pass the quarterfinals. Once they reach the semifinals, they have a high chance of winning a ticket to Paris. The third place finisher in this year's event will advance directly to the finals of the Paris Olympics. The fourth place finisher will have to play in a playoff against Guinea, which is ranked fourth in the 2023 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations.

BY:스포츠토토핫

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