With Korea Republic, Japan and the United Arab Emirates already certain of representing Asia in London later this year, the winner of the three-way play-off tournament at Hanoi’s My Dinh Stadium will face Senegal in Coventry on April 24.
Big-scoring Syria hit 12 goals in six games during the final round Group Stage to finish second in Group C behind Japan, and begin their pursuit of a second appearance at the Olympic Games against Oman on Sunday.
Syria headed into their Matchday Six meeting with Malaysia still in the hunt for automatic qualification, but with Japan beating Bahrain 2-0 to qualify for a fifth consecutive appearance at the Olympic Games, their 3-0 win proved academic as Hitham Jatal’s side finished second by just three points after earlier handing the Japanese their only defeat of the campaign.
“We knew from the beginning that the match would not be easy for us, especially because the defeat at the hands of Bahrain affected us a lot,” said Jatal following the win over Malaysia.
“However, we managed to win the game and qualify to the play-offs.
“I believe all three teams who have qualified for the play-offs are even and we respect Oman and Uzbekistan.” Oman drew 1-1 with Saudi Arabia on Matchday Six to finish second behind Korea Republic to remain on course for a maiden appearance at the Olympic Games.
And Oman will hope Hussain Al Hadhri can maintain his prolific scoring streak in the tournament after the striker found the net on seven occasions in nine appearances after the GCC U-23 champions began in the first round of qualifiers.
Al Hadhri also helped Oman advance to the fourth round of qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup after scoring the opening goal against Thailand at the end of February.
"We deserved to qualify for the play-offs, but we need to improve if we want to compete for a place in the Olympic Games, especially because the performance of some players was bad,” said Oman national team coach Paul Le Guen, who has taken over the running of the team, following the draw with Saudi Arabia in Dammam.
“We were the better side and took the lead, but in the second half we made some individual mistakes which cost us the equalizer. But at the end of the day, we got the point and this was enough for us." After agonisingly missing out on a first appearance at the Olympic Games following a final day defeat by the UAE, Uzbekistan will look to bounce back against Syria on Tuesday.
Uzbekistan needed to win in Tashkent to dislodge the UAE from the top of Group B and led 2-0 shortly after half-time thanks to goals from Oleg Zoteev and Fozil Musaev.
But the UAE responded in a four-minute spell just before the hour mark as 2008 AFC Youth Player of the Year Ahmed Khalil struck a devastating double before substitute Saleh Haboosh netted a breakaway winner in stoppage time.
With the winner of the round robin tournament advancing to face Senegal, who lost 2-0 to Egypt in the third place play-off at the inaugural CAF U-23 Championship last year, Oman and Uzbekistan meet on Thursday on the final matchday.
Should two teams finish level at the top of the group, an additional fixture is pencilled in for March 31 to determine who will face Senegal.