On the night of the 25th, the Japan under-23 men's soccer team, who are aiming to participate in the Paris Olympics, played their last warm-up match against the Ukraine national team in Kitakyushu City before the final Asian qualifying round, and won 2-0.

On the night of the 25th, the Japanese under-23 national team played against the Ukrainian national team, who have decided to qualify for the Olympics, in Kitakyushu City, as their last warm-up match before the final Asian qualifying round that starts next month with a chance to qualify for the Paris Olympics.



Japan made 10 changes to their starting lineup starting with the warm-up match against Mali on the 22nd of this month, including Ryotaro Araki, who has been in good form with J1 side FC Tokyo with 4 goals in 4 games, and Kuo Matsuki, who is expected to be a key player in the midfield. has been named.



Japan actively used a ``high press'' to put pressure on the opponent who had the ball from the front, and often created chances with quick attacks after stealing the ball, but they were unable to score in the first half. The game ended with neither team scoring.

Then, early in the second half, Japan took the lead from a corner kick when tall Sekine Daiki headed the ball, which bounced off the crossbar and was pushed in by Sato Keiman.

Furthermore, in the 31st minute, Sato stole the ball in the opponent's half and passed it to Shindai Hosoya. After being blocked by the opponent, substitute Satoshi Tanaka reacted to the ball and added another shot to the right corner of the goal. I gave you a point.



They defended stably until the end, preventing Ukraine from creating any decisive situations, and won the final warm-up match before the Asian final qualifiers, 2-0.



The final Asian qualifier for the Paris Olympics will begin next month in Qatar, and those who finish in the top three will qualify for the Olympics, while those who finish fourth will advance to a playoff against Guinea in Africa.

Coach Oiwa: ``The reactions of the players were very rewarding.''

In an interview immediately after the game, coach Tsuyoshi Oiwa commented on the loss in the warm-up match against Mali on the 22nd of this month, saying, ``Since it was our second game after the first, we were very rewarded by the players' reactions.'' Looking back on the match, he said, "Our set-piece strengths came out. I think we did a good job of winning the ball from the front and keeping the ball."

Keiichi Sato: “I’m glad I made the decision.”

Keiichi Sato, who scored the opening goal, looked back on the opening goal and said, ``It only hit me in the face, but I was able to play the set piece and fill in the far side, which is my role.I'm glad I was able to score the goal.''



With that in mind, he looked ahead to the final Asian qualifiers for a spot at the Paris Olympics, and said, ``From now on, I want to return to my team and build on this momentum to work hard to qualify for the Olympics and then win the gold medal at the Asian Cup.'' He was talking about.