The men’s soccer semifinals matchup for the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games has been confirmed. None of the Middle Eastern teams passed the semifinals threshold. The host country, China, also gave up its medal dream after being completely defeated by Hwang Sun-Hong. Three East Asian countries and one Central Asian country will compete for the championship. Korea-Uzbekistan and Hong Kong-Japan will play the semifinals on the 4th.
Korea advanced to the semifinals with a victory march. They showed off their powerful power from the group stage. They won 9-0 against Kuwait in the first game, defeated Thailand 4-0, and Bahrain 3-0 to advance to the tournament. They defeated Kyrgyzstan 5-1 in the round of 16 and defeated the home team China 2-0 in the quarterfinals. Scored 23 points and conceded 1 goal in 5 games.스포츠토토
Uzbekistan has won all four matches. They defeated Hong Kong twice in the group stage, 1-0 and 2-1. Afghanistan and Syria declared their absence and easily secured a ticket to the round of 16. In the round of 16, they defeated Indonesia 2-0 in overtime, and defeated Saudi Arabia 2-1 in the quarterfinals.
Hong Kong showed concentration in the tournament and secured a spot in the semifinals. They lost twice to Uzbekistan in the group stage, but were lucky to take second place in the group due to withdrawals from Afghanistan and Syria. They defeated Palestine 1-0 in the round of 16. In the quarterfinals, they beat Iran, the leader of the Middle East, 1-0. They pulled off an upset and advanced to the semifinals.
Japan secured a ticket to the semifinals with four consecutive wins. In the group stage, they defeated Qatar 3-1 and Palestine 1-0. They defeated Myanmar 7-0 in the round of 16 and won 2-1 over North Korea in the quarterfinals. In four games, he maintained a good balance between offense and defense, scoring 13 points and conceding 2 goals, showing off his potential as a championship candidate.
Following the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, it is expected that the Korea-Japan match will be held in the final for the second consecutive time. In both the destructive power of attack and the stability of defense, Korea and Japan are one step ahead of their semifinal opponents, Uzbekistan and Hong Kong. Korea laughed in the final five years ago. Lee Seung-woo and Hwang Hee-chan tied the score to win 2-1 and take the gold medal.