Iraq beats Japan, advances to AFC U-20 Asian Cup final
Players of the Iraqi national under-20 football team celebrating their qualification for the final. Photo: Iraqi News Agency
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi national under-20 football team qualified on Wednesday for the final of 2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup, after a 5-3 penalty-kicks win over its Japanese counterpart.
The Iraqi team scored two goals by Ali Jasim in the 12th minute and Mohammed Jameel in the 103rd minute, before the Japanese team leveled the score by two goals scored by Takatora Einaga in the 83rd minute and Naoki Kumata in the 118th minute.
The semi-final was played in the JAR Stadium in Uzbekistan’s capital, Tashkent, where the competition is held.
The media coordinator of the Iraqi team, Qahtan Al-Maliki, mentioned in a statement that the team completed its training before facing the Japanese team, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.
Al-Maliki elaborated that the training included training on penalty kicks, which both teams may resort to in the event of a tie, INA added.
The team has qualified five times for the FIFA U-20 World Cup, reaching fourth place in 2013.
The Iraqi U-20 team has been awarded the AFC National Team of the Year award once in 2013, being the only U-20 team to win this award.
The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammad Shia Al-Sudani, congratulated the Iraqi youth team after their victory over the Japanese team.
“We congratulate the young team of Iraq, Cubs of Mesopotamia, for their victory over Japan, and their qualification for the final of the AFC U-20 Asian Cup,” Al-Sudani mentioned via Twitter.
“We are confident that you are able to win the championship title,” Al-Sudani added.
The Iraqi team is expected to play the final match against either Uzbekistan or South Korea, depending on who will win the match.