Korea defeats Japan to win group in Olympic football qualifiers

Korea defeated Japan 1-0 in their final group stage match at the Olympic men’s football qualifiers in Qatar on Monday, extending their winning streak to three as they gear up for the knockout phase.Substitute Kim Min-woo headed home the match’s lone goal in the 75th minute of the final Group B match at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Al Rayyan, just west of Doha, and sent Korea into the quarterfinals with an unblemished record.

Both teams had already secured their quarterfinals berths as the top two teams of Group B by winning their first two matches. They were fighting for the top seed Monday. As the winner of Group B, Korea will face Indonesia, the Group A runner-up, in the quarterfinals at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha. The kickoff is 8:30 p.m. Thursday local time, or 2:30 a.m. Friday in Korea.Coached by Hwang Sun-hong, Korea earlier defeated the United Arab Emirates 1-0 and then China 2-0.

It will be the first must-win match of the competition for Korea as they try to extend their Olympic appearance streak to 10. This AFC tournament doubles as the qualifying event for the Paris Olympics. The top three teams — the two finalists and the 토토 winner of the third-place match — will grab tickets to France, with the fourth-place team taking on Guinea in an intercontinental playoff later. This means Korea will have to reach at least the semifinals to have a shot at earning an Olympic spot.

Indonesia, coached by former Korea boss Shin Tae-yong, lost to Qatar 2-0, but later defeated Australia 1-0 and Jordan 4-1 to advance to the quarterfinals.The Korea-Japan showdown was scoreless after an uneventful first half, with neither team registering a shot on target despite some dangerous-looking forays into the opposing boxes.Korea had one close call in the 44th minute, when Hong Yun-sang took a right-footed shot inside the six-yard box as he fell down but missed the net to the right.