Losing to Iraq, Indonesia must undergo a playoff match for Olympic tickets

Doha, Beritasatu.com – The Indonesian U-23 national team lost 2-1 to Iraq in the race for third place in the AFC U-23 Asian Cup at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Friday (3/5/2024) early morning WIB.

Thus, Indonesia must undergo a playoff match against African representatives Guinea to win a ticket to the 2024 Olympics, in the match on May 9 2024 in Paris.

Meanwhile, as the third place finisher in the AFC U-23 Asian Cup, Iraq automatically qualified for the Olympics.

Iraq's victory was determined by their star player Ali Jasim who scored a goal in the 97th minute of extra time. The goal occurred as a result of an error by Indonesian national team captain Justin Hubner, who failed to keep a close eye on the Iraqi winger who was his team's top scorer in the U-23 Asian Cup.

Jasim moved into the Indonesian box without significant guard and fired a shot which Ernando Ari failed to block. This goal was Jasim's fourth as well as being the temporary top scorer in this competition.

Both teams had to undergo 2×15 minutes of extra time after the score was tied at 1-1 at the end of the second round of the match.

The U-23 Iraq National Team appeared using a 4-4-2 formation with Azad and Fadhil as the attacking pair, while the U-23 Indonesian National Team chose a 3-4-2-1 formation with Struick as the sole striker.

A long-range shot from midfielder Ivar Jenner in the 19th minute succeeded in giving the Indonesian U-23 National Team a temporary lead of 1-0 over Iraq. However, in the 27th minute Iraq was able to make the score 1-1.

The match was exciting, with both teams attacking each other from the moment the referee blew the starting whistle.

The Indonesian U-23 National Team created several opportunities to threaten Iraq's goal, one of which was led by Nathan Tjoe-A-On's hard kick. But unfortunately the ball shot over the goal after bouncing down.

Indonesia took a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute. The goal started after Iraq failed to clear the ball from a corner kick, Jenner pounced on the ball and fired it from outside the penalty box into the bottom corner.

Iraqi defender Zaid Tahseen scored the equalizer in the 27th minute.

The return goal came from Iraqi midfielder Muntadher sending the ball into the penalty box from a corner kick, which was initially blocked by the Indonesian goalkeeper. But Ernando Ari failed to block it, allowing Nihad to pass to Tahseen in front of goal, who headed it into the net.

The referee briefly postponed the approval of the goal for VAR monitoring. Only in the 30th minute did the Saudi Arabian referee decide that Iraq's goal was valid. Score 1-1.