The Olympic team suffered a 3-0 defeat against their Japanese counterparts in a match held yesterday at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah. This match was the second round of Group B in the finals of the AFC U-23 Championship, currently taking place in Saudi Arabia. The Japanese team ended the first half with a two-goal lead, scored by Atsuki Nozaki from a penalty in the 5th minute and Yuto Ozaki in the 37th minute. In the second half, Sosuke Furuya added a third goal in the 82nd minute after a video assistant referee (VAR) review to confirm the goal's validity. The Japanese team capitalized on the Olympic team's decline during the first half to control the game's flow and take a two-goal lead. The efforts of the Olympic team, led by Ali Al-Mumri, Khamis Al-Mansoori, and Maitham Al-Kaabi, to get back into the game and restore balance were unsuccessful. The starting lineup saw some changes compared to the previous match against Qatar, most notably the inclusion of goalkeeper Adel Mohamed as a starter instead of Khalid Tuwaid, who had an outstanding performance in the first round. In the second half, the Olympic team's coach, Marcelo Broli, attempted to change the score and narrow the gap by making substitutions that included Junior Neday, Mohamed Khalil, and Hazem Abbas, but these comeback efforts failed, especially after the Japanese team scored a third goal in stoppage time. The Olympic team has one remaining match in this round against the Syrian team. Costly defensive errors proved fatal for the Olympic team, as their conceded two goals in the first half and one in the second. The Japanese team's first goal came just five minutes into the match, which disrupted the Olympic team's plans and caused them to lose their initiative on the field. With this victory, the Japanese team, the defending champions of the previous edition, secured their place in the quarter-finals, raising their total to six points and maintaining their lead in Group B following their 5-0 win over the Syrian team in the previous match. Following this loss, the Olympic team's points total remains at three, and their hopes of advancing to the next stage are still alive, as they have one match left against the Syrian team in the third round of the group stage. The Olympic team did not display the same technical level in this match that they showed in the first round against Qatar, where they won 2-0.
