Young Samurais overcame the immense pressure to take the next step.

Kicked off at 4:30 p.m. (10:30 p.m. Japan Time), U-23 Japan National Team took on Iran at the semi-final of the AFC U-23 Championship Qatar 2016 (Rio de Janeiro Olympics Asian Qualifiers Final Round).

Despite the differently tensed atmosphere from that of the group stage, Japan composedly controlled the match. In the first half, they were not able to create many big opportunities to score, while Iran threatened Japan’s goal a few times. Still the match was certainly dominated by Japan. As had been the case in the last three matches, it was well within Japan’s expectation that there would be some tough stretches. Making sure to manage risks, they tried to utilise free-kicks and corner-kicks to score the opener.

The see-saw match continued in the second half. In the 56th minute, Iran’s header hit the cross bar of Japan’s goal, but the Japanese players did not panic. They kept communicating with each other and maintained the concentration, as they had all the opposing players in check with collectively taking care of every attacking point of Iran’s offence. In the 82nd minute, with the score still being 0-0, Japan’s boss TEGURAMORI Makoto sent ASANO Takuma in place for KUBO Yuya. Then he also replaced YAJIMA Shinya with TOYOKAWA Yuta to reactivate their offence.

In the additional period, Japan’s stamina started overwhelming Iran. Contrary to the opponents whose legs apparently slowed down, Japan geared up even higher. Finally, the much-awaited goal was scored in the 96th minute of the extra period’s first half. Right full-back MUROYA Sei went up to join the attack and fed a cross with his left foot, which was met by Toyokawa who rushed in unchecked. Toyokawa’s beautiful header found the back of the net.....

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