Defeating host Qatar, U23 Japan won a ticket to the semi-finals of the U23 Asian Cup

On the night of April 25, the first quarter-final match within the framework of the 2024 AFC U23 Championship finals, both U23 Qatar and U23 Japan took place.

Both teams showed great determination in the opening minutes of the match, in the 2nd minute, Yamada shot from a distance to open the score for the East Asian team. However, in the 23rd minute, Ahmed Al Rawi jumped high to head the ball into the far corner, beating goalkeeper Kokubo, bringing the match back to a 1-1 tie.

In the following minutes, the match was tense and the final highlight before the end of the first half was the red card of the goalkeeper of U23 Qatar.

In the 41st minute, goalkeeper Youssef Abdullah jumped up and kicked Hosoya in the stomach. After reviewing the VAR, the referee decided to give the Qatar U23 goalkeeper a red card.

The first half ended with a draw of 1-1 between U23 Qatar and Japan.

U23 Japan took the lead in the first minutes of the first half, while U23 Qatar were the ones who created the advantage right at the beginning of the second half.

In the 49th minute, it was another cross-header formula, Mostafa Meshaal crossed the ball into the penalty area and Jassem Gaber chose the right spot to head the ball past goalkeeper Kokubo. And also in an aerial situation, U23 Japan found the equalizer 2-2. From the corner kick, Yamamoto crossed the ball for Kimura to jump up and head the ball into the net of U23 Qatar.

The drama of the first quarter-final match was pushed to its climax when 10 players of U23 Qatar bravely defended against the constant pressure of the opponent to drag the match into extra time. Here, U23 Japan clearly showed the advantage in physical strength as well as the number of players when playing with more players. As for the host U23 Qatar, despite their best efforts, they could not keep the net intact like they did in the second half of the second half.

The Japanese team scored two goals in the two extra periods, specifically in the 101st and 112th minutes by Hosoya and Uchino. These were situations where the Qatar U23 defense lacked concentration.

In the end, after 120 minutes of breathtaking competition, U23 Japan excellently defeated the host team U23 Qatar to enter the semi-finals.