When China's U23 announced that it would not participate in this year's Olympic Games, the 1/4 finals of this year's U23 Asian Cup broke out into an eye-catching competition.
Facing South Korea U23, Indonesia U23 fought tenaciously from overtime to penalty shootout, and finally defeated South Korea U23 13-12 thrillingly, and successfully broke into the semi-finals for the first time in history.
At 1:30 on April 26, Beijing time, in the 1/4 finals of the 2024 Qatar U23 Asian Cup, South Korea U23 played against Indonesia U23.
Before the game, many people thought that this would be a relatively strong competition, and the overall strength of this year's South Korea U23 was not as good as the previous ones, while Indonesia's U23 has indeed performed well in recent years.
In the 15th minute of the game, Indonesia U23 took the lead in launching a sharp offensive threat, Suleiman's long-range shot was blocked, and Struk kicked a beautiful shot! 0-1, Indonesia U23 lead!
In the 45th minute, South Korea U23 found its rhythm again, and Yoon Ji-sung in the penalty area received a cross from his teammates and scored with a header, the score was 1-1!
In the third minute of stoppage time in the first half, just after the opponent equalized, Indonesia U23 quickly launched an offensive, Jenner kicked a long pass, Struk calmly scored!1-2, Indonesia U23 led again!
At half-time, the Indonesian U23 team was a little unexpected, and it was able to keep up with the rhythm of South Korea's U23 and even take the initiative on the field.
It's not so much a team preparing for the National Olympics as it is playing more like a mature national team, and in fact, more than half of the players have already played for Indonesia, and 10 of them are players who have reached the round of 16 for the first time in the history of this year's Asian Cup!
In the 68th minute of the second half, substitute Lee Young-jun fouled Habernard, the referee showed a yellow card, and then changed the red card through VAR to send him off, and South Korea U23 could only respond with 10 men!
In the 84th minute, South Korea's U23, which had one less person, was still able to launch a strong counterattack, Hong Yunsang kicked a straight stopper, and Zheng Xiangbin calmly scored with a low shot, 2-2 draw!
After 90 minutes of regular action, the two sides drew and went into extra time, but both teams had some fitness and could not change the 2-2 scoreline.
Entering the exciting penalty shootout, both teams successfully hit the penalty in the first five rounds. In the 6th round, Jiang Shangrun's kick to the lower corner was saved, and Akehan's penalty kick was deflected, 7-7 at this time!
In the 12th round, Li Kangxi's penalty was saved, and Rifayi successfully hit, and the score of the penalty shootout was finally locked at 10-11!
The battle finally came to an end, and in the end, Indonesia U23 successfully won with an aggregate score of 13-12 and broke into the semi-finals for the first time in the U23 Asian Cup!
South Korea's U23 team was knocked out of the tournament in an upset, missing the Olympics for the first time in 40 years since 1984, and ending their ninth consecutive Olympic Games. Who would have thought that the South Korean team was bombarded by the Indonesian team with 21 shots on goal, and the new generation of players who used to be Asian fish belly is no longer what it used to be.
Indonesia U23 can be called the strongest dark horse in this tournament so far, and South Korea coach Shin Tae-ryong is leading this group of young players to create a new history in Asian football.
The top three finishers from the tournament will land at the Paris Olympics, which means that Indonesia's U23 team is just one step away from the Olympics. You must know that China's U23 has missed the Olympic Games for 5 consecutive years......
In recent years, Indonesian football teams at all levels have achieved good results one after another, and are becoming an emerging force in Asian football. I can't help but wonder, why is Indonesian football suddenly so strong, and can the national football team still play?
Speaking of the emerging Indonesian football, it is impossible not to mention the naturalization policy. The current president of the Indonesian Football Association is Eric Tohir, the president of the club during Inter's downturn in the past.
In recent years, with the investment in Indonesian football, local football talents have been more professionally cultivated, but the strength is obviously not among the top in Asia.
And after he officially took office in 2023, the Indonesian Football Association further tried to gather players from around the world who were willing to play for the Indonesian team.
The Football Association has given unprecedented support to Indonesian football, and in January 2020, South Korean coach Shin Tae-ryong was invited to Indonesia to lead the Indonesian national team, Under-20 and Under-23 in the competition.
It was before this quarter-final that the president of the Indonesian Football Association, Tohir, confirmed that he had renewed his contract until 2027. Led the Indonesian team to the top 16 of the Asian Cup to create the best record in team history, and led Indonesia U23 to advance to the top 4 of the U23 Asian Cup.
In the round of 36 of the Asian zone of the 2026 World Preliminaries, the Indonesian team successfully defeated the Vietnamese team twice, directly letting its head coach announce his resignation, and the team is likely to enter the round of 18.
In the last year alone, Indonesia has declared as many as eight players naturalized, so the Indonesian team is much stronger than before. The reason why Indonesia was able to quickly increase its power through naturalization is related to its historical relations with countries such as the Netherlands and Belgium.
From 2010 to the present, 11 of the top 25 players in the Indonesian team are naturalized players, and there is no shortage of players like Heerenveen midfielder Haye, who usually play in European football.
At present, Indonesian football is creating unprecedented results, and the Indonesian team is looking forward to further improvement after reaching the round of 16 of the Asian Cup for the first time this year, and even has its eyes on the World Cup.
Indonesia U23 has become the strongest dark horse in this U23 Asian Cup, and it is not impossible to enter the Paris Olympics or even win the championship. Indonesian football, which has rapidly improved its overall strength through naturalization, has become an emerging force in Asian football.
Do fans think that the national football team can play Indonesia next?
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