In the early morning of May 3, Beijing time, the U23 Asian Cup held in Qatar ushered in the third and fourth finals, which were played by the Iraqi Olympic Team against the Indonesian National Olympic Games. In the end, Iraq defeated Indonesia 2-1 in extra time to get the last direct ticket to the Paris Olympics, and it was also the first time in eight years to return to the Olympics.
Originally, it was a competition with little attention, but because the third place could go straight to the Paris Olympics, Iraq and Indonesia paid great attention to it. At present, Japan and Uzbekistan, which have advanced to the finals, have locked their tickets for the Olympic Games in advance, and there is still a direct quota for Iraq and Indonesia.
Compared to Iraq, Indonesia participated in the tournament for the first time, finishing second in the group stage, and then knocked out South Korea in the quarterfinals and lost to Uzbekistan in the semi-finals.
Both the overall strength and the experience of the competition, Iraq had the advantage, but after the opening, Indonesia had a slight upper hand in possession, played very actively, and did not put on a bus strategy.
In the 19th minute, Indonesia's corner kick was cleared, and Jenner scored directly with a low shot from the edge of the penalty area, and Iraq took the lead in falling behind 0-1. Slow motion showed that Iraq's corner kick defense did not do a good job of protecting the outside of the box, giving Jenner a chance to shoot from distance.
In the 27th minute, Iraq scored through a corner kick: the Indonesian goalkeeper made a mistake and Tahsin scored with a header in front of the goal, and the score became 1-1 drawn, and the two sides were on the same starting line.
At the end of the first half, the score was still tied, and with the two teams having possession of the ball, Iraq had the advantage in attack, with 9 shots on goal and 3 on target, and Indonesia with 5 shots and 2 on target.
In the second half, Iraq changed their tactics and tried to penetrate Indonesia's backline.
In the 73rd minute, Iraq almost overtook the score with a through ball, and striker Mousavi beat the goalkeeper and hit the empty goal, but was cleared by the Indonesian defender who returned in time to defend the goalline. In the 83rd minute, Rafael Strujk burst into the penalty area with the ball and crossed in front of the goal, but the Iraqi defender cleared the ball but kicked it towards his own goal, the ball was held by the goalkeeper, and he almost scored an own goal. At the last moment, Iraq's free-kick attack headed wide and almost crushed the whistle, and the game went into extra time.
In the 96th minute, the Iraqi backfield found Ali Jassim with a long pass, and the latter scored from a small angle in the penalty area to help Iraq achieve a 2-1 lead.
In the following game time, Indonesia failed to equalize with a frantic counterattack, and finally suffered a tragic overtime stunner.
With the victory, Iraq finished third and qualified for the Paris Olympics for the sixth time in their history, having previously qualified for the 2016 Games. Compared with Iraq, the Chinese men's football team has been disappointed again and again, and while being thrown away by the first- and second-rate Asian teams, it has been reduced to the third- and fourth-rate teams in Asia.
For Indonesia, there is still a chance to challenge for the Paris Olympics, and the next step is to compete for the fourth place in the African zone in the play-offs.