Lee Min Seongho, get nervous! U22, Saudi 51 → Uzbekistan 20 consecutive friendly tournament...Ready for the LA Olympics

Jul 29, 2025

The men's soccer final match between the Korean national soccer team and Japan at the Hangzhou Asian Games was held at Huanglong Sports Center Stadium in Hangzhou, China on the afternoon of the 7th. Director Ko Oiwa of Japan. Hangzhou (China) = Song Jeong-heon Reporter's songs@sportschosun.com/2023.10.07/

Japanese soccer showed off its potential to win a friendly tournament ahead of the 2025 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup in September.

Japan's U-22 national soccer team, led by head coach Oiwa Ko, won 2-0 with consecutive goals by Yudai Shimamoto and Inoue Aren in the second half in the '2025 Mirabor Usmanov Memorial Cup' against Uzbekistan's U-22 team at Jars Stadium in Tashgent, Uzbekistan on the 28th (local time).

Japan, which won 5-1 in the first match of the tournament against Saudi Arabia on the 25th, won the title with two wins. Uzbekistan, which beat Saudi Arabia 3-1 in the first round, finished second in the tournament with one win and one loss, and Saudi Arabia finished the tournament with all two losses.

In preparation for the 2026 LA Olympics, Oiwa played this friendly tournament only with players born after 2005. It convened potential players of various ages, including college students, high school students, and professional youth players. Striker Zion Shinka (Sagan dos U-18) was born in 2007.

Before leaving the country, Oiwa said, `Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan are both the best in Asia,' adding, `I want to build a solid foundation by focusing on both content and results in these two games"It revealed its goal.

This friendly tournament is in preparation for the U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers to be held in September. Oiwa said he wanted to try various things in preparation for the Asian Cup qualifying round, and at the same time, he has the U-20 World Cup in mind" he said.

Japan replaced 10 starters against Uzbekistan in preparation for the Saudi match and experimented with various cards, while also winning the results against two teams that showed strong performances in the under-22 age group. It is a satisfactory result of the friendly tournament.

Japan will clash with Afghanistan, Myanmar and Kuwait in Group B of the Asian Cup qualifiers to be held in Myanmar in September. A total of 44 teams will participate in the Asian Cup qualifying round, with the top 16 teams advancing to the Asian Cup finals in Saudi Arabia next January.

South Korea's U-22 national team, led by head coach Lee Min-sung, belonged to Group J with Indonesia, Laos and Macau. Unlike Japan, Lee Min-sung did not participate in the friendly tournament separately, but held a convocation training in Gyeongju from the 30th to the 4th of last month.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.