Asia is weak, but...

In the history of men's football at the Olympics, European and American teams have almost shared the dominant position. If the 20th century was the time when the representatives of the old continent such as the United Kingdom, Hungary, Spain, France were dominant, then entering the 21st century, it was the turn of the American teams to gain the upper hand.

In the last 5 Olympic Games, the Americas have won gold medals. Those were the championships of Argentina (2004, 2008), Mexico (2012) and Brazil (2016, 2021). Interspersed among the gold medals of European and American teams, there are occasional African teams such as Cameroon (2000), Nigeria (1996).

Japan brought to Paris the team that just won the U.23 Asian Championship.

So where do Asian teams stand in the Olympic men's football race? The answer is... completely outclassed. No Asian representative has ever won an Olympic title. The best result an Asian team has achieved is a bronze medal, as in the case of South Korea at the 2012 London Olympics after defeating Japan in the third-place match. Japan also won a bronze medal at the 1968 Olympics. At this year's Olympics, one of the two pillars of Asian football is no longer present: South Korea. Of the three participating teams, Japan, Uzbekistan and Iraq, all hopes will be placed on the shoulders of the "big brother" Japan.

The story of Asian teams being outclassed at the Olympics is similar to the World Cup, when Asian football is clearly still at a lower level than European, American or even some African teams. However, in the context of an increasingly "flat" football world, surprises can happen.

The young team with the biggest chance of creating a surprise is obviously Japan - the reigning U.23 Asian champion. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Japan defeated France and Mexico to reach the semi-finals. The team from the land of the rising sun only stopped before Spain, despite being known as a young team but... more than half of the squad had played in the previous EURO semi-finals such as Pedri, Pau Torres, Mikel Oyarzabal, Dani Olmo and Mikel Merino. Japan played fairly with Spain, before succumbing to a moment of genius from Marco Asensio, an overage player, in extra time of the semi-final.

The solid image of "veteran" Maya Yoshida in defense or the explosiveness of Takefusa Kubo in attack symbolized Japan's overall strength at the Tokyo Olympics. It is clear that in 2 of the last 3 Olympics, the balance has changed. Asian football has not been able to break away, but the gap has shortened.

Uzbekistan Olympics is also an interesting unknown

Japan's national team has made great progress over the past two decades, thanks to a systematic football development and a squad of players "trained" in Europe. Ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, Japan drew 1-1 with host France. That was an encouraging result for coach Go Oiwa and his team.

The stumbling block for Japan is that they will go to the Paris Olympics without any overage players. The Japan Football Association (JFA) has tried to convince stars, including Liverpool's Wataru Endo, but the club has not agreed. As such, Japan will play with a purely U.23 squad. However, the tight, disciplined style of play and the majority of stars playing domestically will make Japan an unpredictable opponent.

The young teams of Uzbekistan and Iraq also come to the Olympics as underdogs. However, the desire to create surprises, the new determination and motivation in this rare time swimming into the "big ocean" will help the Asian teams play with the mentality of having nothing to lose. It will not be easy to overcome extremely strong teams like France, Argentina or Spain, but trust: Olympic Japan and the Asian representatives will not accept being on the sidelines.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/bong-da-nam-tai-olympic-paris-2024-chau-a-yeu-the-nhung-185240721064939763.htm