It wont be an easy game given our star player wont be playing. A win would be nice of course, but what I want to see is players taking risks and trying passes & moves which they normally wont attempt in a competitive match when such an important prize as an Olympic berth is in the line. Now that Korea has secured the main prize, this is a great opportunity for the players to more freely attempt the practice field passes & moves in a competitive setting. If they pull it off they will gain confidence and really make those skills their own, which they can deploy again at the Olympics and at other world stages further on. Its like the super goal by Dele Alli against Crystal Palace or Son Heung Min's outstanding display of 1 super goal and 1 sublime assist against Leicester in the FA Cup last week.Many players can do this and perform in practice but in a competitive match? How many would dare to attempt it in the first place? How many have the confidence to bring it on the day? But once they know they can do it, how much of a boost in confidence will the player get? Its not only their own confidence, its the confidence people around them will have in them that will help them as well. Success breeds success. There are also the players who have under performed so far, be it inconsistency or just being below par on average. Not all of them will go to Rio, but I hope they give it their all. This is their chance to give the manager food for thought. This of course applies to the Japanese players. Hope they come at us aggressive and creatively. This will help both teams to prepare for the Olympics.
Congrats to Iraq as well. I won't give any credence to the accusations of overaged players until proven, and the fact that Qatar, a country that has serious influence in football right now (and a country that AFC and FIFA has a serious vested interest in to do well to avoid further embarrassment) has not managed to make a formal case or make a big issue of it, seems to indicate there's little traction. Like some of you already said, like for Korea U23 and Japans U23 players, this ticket to the Olympics for Iraq U23 players can make a huge difference not only to the individual players and their prospects but also for the future success of the NT. If fact for Iraq due to their country's current circumstance, the value of this opportunity, to play at the world stage in a highly competitive environment against teams from other continents, is perhaps doubled or more. It will also inspire future generations, young kids now seeing their country playing (and hopefully doing well) at the Olympics, will give them pride, hopes & dreams and a goal to aim for.
Korea 2-3 Japan FT Wow.. Never expected this to happen. Japan are champions of the U23 Championship. Congrats Japan and hard luck South Korea. See you in the Olympics
Congrat Japan. Nice "friendly Asian Classic" game. Happy to see SK kids and hope DT will fix our defense make stronger team for the Olympics.
This generation i believe was described the valley generation, the opposite of a peak (i.e. trough generation as in peak and troughs). Which is why at the start of the tournament and for each match i was very nervous about them being able to get that Olympic ticket. Indeed we all were ready to settle for 3rd and be thankful for it. Then the lads showed a lot of skill and great passing play in the 1st half and 20min of the 2nd half and I started to think they somehow turned a corner and had become a better as a whole. In the end they still had the same weaknesses. I let my expectations rise too quickly and they were dashed. The manner of the loss, letting go a 2-0 lead was terrible, worse than a 0-1 loss. C'est la vie. At least we've got the Olympic berth, the original prize we wanted. Hopefully our wildcards will upgrade the team sufficiently for the Olympics. Interestingly, I believe, Japan also see their U23 as a weak generation, and in some ways they were, but looks like they've got fight, which ironically was one of the things Korea was known for.
I missed this game for really underwhelming game of ATM vs FCB. Apparently the game was really good and Japan played an insane second half. Japan has been consistent at playing really well in the dying minutes, it must have been nerve wrecking. This was a really entertaining youth tournament. Congratulations to the Japanese lads and hard luck to the Koreans. Well done to both teams.
Congratulations to the Japanese and hard luck to the Koreans. Well done to both teams. I hope you and Iraq would make us proud in Rio 2016. Interesting enough, these are the same teams who qualified for Athens 2004.
Vally generation? But still you guys qualified for the Olympics easily. It shows how big the gap is between Korea and the rest of Asia minus Japan. You are greedy.
Our last U23 team at the olympics was basically our senior NT team. This team is nothing compared to them.
That's what everybody talks now about. Sometimes less individual quality makes better results and team. Results is hard to catch again (bronze medal), but I wish we can pass the group stage and go as much as possible again.
so Iran outplayed the champions and barely lost to them in the last minutes in the quarters. top 3 teams of this tournament; japan/skorea/Iran in no particular order with iraq/qatar/uzbekistan/australia following closely this is why using knockout tournaments for qualification is not accurate
Lol. The delusional iranian is still alive and dreaming. Barely lost to them?! Yeah, right! you lost 3-0 brah! let that sink in. The best, the powerful... the blah blah blah but you're OUT of this tournament with two painful losses! And you complain why people never take you seriously. Get off your high horse!