Foreign media highlighted the defeat of the Indonesian U-23 national football team against Uzbekistan on Monday. French media AFP , for example, wrote an article entitled “Indonesia waits for Olympic football to go on after Uzbekistan defeat”.
It was mentioned how Indonesia was eliminated in the U-23 Asian Cup after losing 2-0 in the semifinals to Uzbekisan. However, it was also mentioned how Indonesia could actually still qualify for the Paris Olympics.
“Indonesia was knocked out of the U-23 Asian Cup on Monday after a 2-0 semi-final defeat to Uzbekistan, forcing the island nation to wait for qualification to the Olympic men’s football tournament for the second time in its history,” read the page, quoted on Tuesday (30/ 4/2024).
“The Red and White Team can still qualify for the Olympics in Paris if they win the third-place match against Japan or Iraq this weekend,” added the media.
“If they lose and finish fourth, they have to beat Guinea in the Asia-Africa playoff match,” he said again.
It was also shown during the match how Uzbekistan’s player, Husayin Norchaev put a cross between two defenders in the 68th minute. It was also said that there was an own goal made by an RI player, Pratama Arhan.
“The second goal occurred after Indonesia was playing with 10 players when Rizky Ridho was sent off for a high tackle which was considered violent,” said AFP
“If Indonesia wins, they will play football at the Olympics for the first time in almost seven decades, since the Soviet Union eliminated them from the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne,” he added.
“Indonesia’s hopes of qualifying have dramatically increased after defeating the great Asian power, South Korea, last week,” he added.
“It was the coach from South Korea, Shin Tae-yong, who led Indonesia to victory to prevent his home country from qualifying for the Olympics for the first time since the 1980s,” concluded the page.