Indonesia's 68-year wait to play again in the Olympics could soon come to an end. The Indonesian U-23 national team has a great chance to advance to Paris 2024. The 1956 Melbourne Olympics marked Indonesia's only involvement in men's football, despite losing 0-4 on aggregate to the Soviet Union national team in the quarterfinals over two legs.
To qualify for the Paris Olympics, the team nicknamed "Garud Muda" must defeat the Iraq U-23 national team in the third-place playoff of the AFC U-23 Championship at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha on Thursday (2/5/2024) evening WIB.
The Iraq U-23 team is not an unbeatable opponent. Radhi Shenaishil's fleet started their journey in the AFC U-23 Championship with a 0-2 loss to the Thai U-23 national team, which is incidentally a rival of the Indonesian U-23 national team from ASEAN.
However, the Iraq U-23 team managed to defeat the Tajikistan U-23 national team 4-2, the Saudi Arabia U-23 national team 2-1, who were the defending champions, and the Vietnam U-23 national team 2-0 before being beaten by the Japanese U-23 national team 0-2.
The problem is, the Indonesian U-23 national team is not at full strength to challenge the Iraq U-23 team. The team, nicknamed "Garuda Muda," lost their defender and captain, Rizky Ridho, due to accumulated red cards.
The journey since the group stage has proven the quality of the Indonesian U-23 national team in the AFC U-23 Championship. Embarrassing the Australian U-23 national team 1-0, the Jordanian U-23 national team 4-1, and the South Korean U-23 national team 11-10 (2-2) in penalties demonstrated the level of the "Garuda Muda."
"To be honest, we faced some difficulties in terms of the players' fitness levels, and we focused on recovery," explained the coach of the Indonesian U-23 national team, Shin Tae-yong.
"I think the result will depend on quick recovery and the mental preparation of both teams. We need to focus on having a strong mentality and the will to win against the Iraq U-23 team later," clarified this South Korean architect.
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