“Olympic White” pays the price for defensive mistakes against Japan

The Olympic team lost to its Japanese counterpart by three unanswered goals, in the match that brought them together yesterday at the King Abdullah Sports Hall Stadium in Jeddah, in the second round of the second group in the AFC U-23 Cup finals currently being held in Saudi Arabia. The Olympic team has one match remaining in this round against the Syrian team.

The fatal defensive errors paid the price for the Olympic team, as they conceded two goals in the first half and a third goal in the second half. The Japanese team’s first goal came just five minutes after the start of the match, which confuses the Olympic team’s calculations and causes it to lose the initiative on the field.

With this victory, the Japanese team, the holder of the title of the last edition, secured qualification to the quarter-finals, raising its score to six points and maintaining its lead in the second group, after it won the previous match against the Syrian team with five clean goals.

With this loss, the Olympic team’s score froze at three points, and its chances of qualifying to the next round still exist, as it has a match remaining against the Syrian team in the third round of the group stage.

The Olympic team did not appear during the match at the same technical level as it presented in the first round against Qatar, in which it won by two unanswered goals. The Japanese team ended the first half with two goals ahead, scored by Atuchi Nawadeki in the fifth minute from a penalty kick, and Yuto Ozeki in the 37th minute, while Shusuke Furuya added the third goal in the 82nd minute, after reviewing the VAR technology to confirm the authenticity of the goal.

The Japanese team took advantage of the Olympic team’s decline during the first half to control the course of the game and take a two-goal lead. The attempts of the Olympic team, led by Ali Al-Maamari, Khamis Al-Mansouri and Mayed Al-Kass, to return to the match and restore balance were unsuccessful.

The starting lineup witnessed some changes compared to the previous match against Qatar, most notably the participation of goalkeeper Adly Mohamed as a starter instead of Khaled Tawhid, who excelled in the first round.

In the second half, national team coach Marcelo Broli tried to adjust the score and reduce the difference by making changes that included the entry of Junior Nidai, Muhammad Khalil and Hazem Abbas, but the attempts at a comeback failed, especially after the Japanese national team scored the third goal in the fatal hour.