Tabriz: Japan advanced to the semi-finals of the AFC U-20 Futsal Championship IR Iran 2019 with a 2-0 win over Iraq on Tuesday.
Japan will face the winners of the Islamic Republic of Iran or Lebanon in Thursday's semi-finals.
The tie was a repeat of the 2017 quarter-final, where Iraq emerged victors, but this was a different Japanese side and the match began as expected, with both teams applying heavy pressure from the start.
Iraq’s Al Muwafaq Al Rubaye had the first real chance of the game in the second minute when he let loose a strike from distance but failed to keep his shot down, before Japan had their own opportunity a minute later after Osawa Masashi intercepted a back pass, but he too missed by inches.
In the fifth minute, Japan displayed how quick they could move on a counter-attack. The action began with an Iraqi corner that deflected off the Japanese formation and towards the West Asians’ half, and Hagiwara Manatsu found the back of the net with a right-footed strike from distance to open the scoring.
Iraq remained spirited despite conceding and went on to dominate possession for the better part of the half, but were unable to make inroads into Japan's box, which resulted in them making most of their attempts with long-range strikes.
The physically-intense match continued in the second half, and Iraq came close to equalising in the 21st minute but Hussein Zamil Al Ghanim failed to connect to Hussein Abdulhakeem Amer’s pass to the side post.
The back-and-forth action was non-stop as Japan had a chance of their own a minute later when a series of long-range passes found Otsuka Hiroto inside the box, which caught the Iraqi defence asleep, and the forward should have doubled their advantage from point blank range but shot over the frame.
Otsuka had another great opportunity from a corner set-piece in the 28th minute but shot wide.
The roles were reversed as the game entered its final 10 minutes, with Ryuji Suzuki’s Japan taking control of the game, but Iraq continued to press for the equaliser.
As the clock ticked away, Iraq sent on Yaseen Hussein Al Mohammedawi as the power player in the 34th minute, and came close three minutes from time when Abdulhakeem Amer shot from close range but Hiroshi was on top of his game to deny the forward.
Iraq’s search for the equaliser backfired in the 38th minute as Matsukawa Kota received Hiroshi’s cross-court throw, and he made no mistake to seal the win and a place in the semi-finals.
Photos: AFC
Source: the-afc.com