Japan is a strong opponent of Vietnam in the semi-finals of the U19 Asian Cup.

The team from the land of the rising sun defeated Tajikistan 4-0 in the quarterfinals on October 24 and will meet Vietnam on October 27 to compete for a ticket to the final.

"Japan are too strong. They deserved to win," admitted Tajikistan coach Vitalii Levchenko, after the referee blew the final whistle of the third quarter-final of the Asian U19 Championship in Bahrain.

Determined to be the underdog, Tajikistan chose to play defensively and counter-attackingly. However, the team's plan soon fell apart, as in the eighth minute, their net shook. After the ball hit the post and bounced off, Dona Ritsu crossed the ball past the entire Tajikistan defense for Ogawa Koki to head in the opening goal.

Dona Ritsu was the highlight of the first half. Eleven minutes after assisting his teammate to open the scoring, he added his name to the list of goals. The player wearing the number 15 shirt took a dangerous shot, the ball hit the post and rolled into the net, giving goalkeeper Behruz Khayriev no chance to save.

Japan is a strong candidate for the Asian U19 championship.

After conceding two goals, Tajikistan played better, causing Japan many difficulties. However, in the 73rd minute, goalkeeper Khayriev still had to pick the ball out of the net for the third time after a great free kick by Ogawa Koki. Two minutes before the official end of the match, Yoto Iwasaki sealed the score at 4-0 with a shot from inside the penalty area without any momentum.

Defeating Tajikistan 4-0, Japan won a ticket to the 2017 U20 World Cup in Korea. This team will also compete in the semi-finals of the U19 Asian Cup and their opponent is Vietnam. The match will take place on October 27.

At the 2014 AFC U19 Championship, Japan and Vietnam were in the same group. The match between the two teams ended with a score of 3-1 in favor of Japan.

According to VNE