Uzbekistan and Japan qualify for men's Olympic soccer by reaching U23 Asian Cup final
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Uzbekistan qualified for men’s Olympic soccer after years of near-misses by reaching the Under-23 Asian Cup final on Monday.
The Uzbeks beat Indonesia 2-0 in the semifinals and will face Japan in the final on Friday.
Japan secured an eighth consecutive Olympic appearance by defeating Iraq 2-1.
The top three teams qualify automatically for the Paris Games and Iraq and Indonesia will meet in Thursday’s playoff to decide the remaining place.
Uzbekistan has had an unlucky run. It won the biennial Asian tournament in the non-Olympic years of 2018 and 2022. In 2020, the team finished fourth, missing out on the Tokyo Games after losing the playoff against Australia.
There was no heartbreak this time. Khusain Norchaev scored midway through the second half and Pratama Arhan conceded an own goal four minutes from the end at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium.
Related articles
Messi in and Dybala out in Argentina squad for pre
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Lionel Messi is in and Paulo Dybala is out of Argentina’s squad for f2024-05-21What DO cicadas do? Everything you need to know about sex
Trillions of slumbering, sex-crazed cicadas are expected to reemerge across the US starting this mon2024-05-21Afghanistan's only female diplomat resigns in India after gold smuggling allegations
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghanistan’s diplomat in India, who was appointed before the Taliban seized power2024-05-21Heartstopping moment five year
A five-year-old-girl's arm was sucked into a tiny gap between an elevator and the wall and trapped t2024-05-21College baseball notebook: Conference tournaments to decide NCAA automatic bids and many at
The field for the NCAA baseball tournament will take shape this week with conference tournaments det2024-05-21Beyonce added to French dictionary with publication listing her as 'American singer of R&B and pop'
She's a groundbreaking artist, actress, trailblazer, and now a noun in the dictionary.Beyonce has be2024-05-21
atest comment