After the U23 Asian Cup entered the knockout stage, it took the lead in two games, the first Qatar team in Group A finally lost to the Japanese team 2:4 and was the first to be eliminated, and in the other game, the U23 Asian Cup broke out, and even the biggest upset in the history of the event, the second place Indonesian team from Group A, finally eliminated the South Korean team and successfully entered the semifinals. In this way, Indonesia and Japan will have the opportunity to compete and potentially qualify for the finals of the Paris Olympics.
This is definitely a historic moment for Indonesian football, which has not yet been able to compete in the men's football tournament in the Olympic finals, so they are very eager to get this opportunity. If they can. One more win in the knockout rounds and a final, and they will be guaranteed to qualify for the Paris Olympics. Indonesia's next opponents will be the winners of Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan, both of which are very good, but considering they can even beat South Korea, it will not be a surprise to beat any opponent next.
The South Korean men's soccer team is currently ranked 26th in the world and Indonesia is ranked 142nd, which of course refers to the ranking of the senior national team. In fact, the standard of the Indonesian U23 national team is still very high, including the progress of Indonesian football in recent years, but these improvements are also based on the use of a large number of naturalized players with Dutch roots.
This Indonesian U23 team is the fourth pot team, which is why we say that Indonesia's elimination of South Korea can be called the biggest upset in the history of the U23 Asian Cup, because in the history of the U23 Asian Cup, there is no team in the fourth pot to reach the semi-finals, because the fourth pot is usually the weakest team. So Indonesian football has also made history in this competition. It's definitely an epic upset. However, this upset is limited to their current world rankings and brackets, in fact, the Indonesian team has played a pivotal role in both the senior national team and the Under-23 national team with a number of naturalised players of Dutch descent.
Previously, in the round of 36 of the Asian zone of the World Preliminary Championships, 13 members of the Indonesian national team had Dutch ancestry. Players playing in Europe have helped them beat Vietnam, the world's highest-ranked team in Southeast Asia, to finish second in the group stage, and beat Vietnam twice, and will most likely enter the next stage of the round of 18. In the current U23 national team, there are as many as 10 naturalized players with Dutch ancestry, and most of these players have also participated in the round of 36 just now, so both the game experience and the overall team level are very high, the two sides played a 2:2 draw in regular time, and in the penalty shootout stage, the hit rate of both sides is also very high, and finally the Indonesian team eliminated the South Korean team 13:12 and successfully advanced to the final semi-finals.
It's sadder for the South Korean team. South Korean footballers attach great importance to the Asian Games and Olympic football competitions, mainly because they can use the games to exempt them from military service. If you can win a gold medal in the Asian Games or a medal in the Olympics, you can be exempted from military service. A similar example would be the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, when South Korea's men's soccer team won the championship, and that group of players, including Son Heung-min, was exempted from military service. In addition, in 2012, the South Korean men's soccer team defeated Japan to win the bronze medal at the Olympics, and many of those members were also exempted from military service. However, all this came to an abrupt end after Indonesia scored their 13th penalty.