Asa Itu Masih Ada, Garuda Muda!

JAKARTA The steps taken by the Indonesian national team in the U23 Asian Cup must be stopped in the semifinals, but the hope towards the 2024 Paris Olympics still exists. Facing Uzbekistan should be a valuable experience for Rizky Ridho and colleagues.

Garuda Muda's dream of continuing to make history by strolling into the U23 Asian Cup final was dashed after suffering a 0-2 defeat to Uzbekistan, Monday (29/4/2024) night WIB. After successfully holding back the onslaught of Uzbekistan for the first 45 minutes, the Indonesian goal escorted by Ernando Ari conceded in the 68th minute through a quick attack completed by Khusayin Norchaev.

The opening goal of East Kapadze's team came when the focus of the national team players was slightly shaken after the referee ruled out Muhammad Ferrari's goal three minutes earlier. While trying to get back up to catch up, a crushing blow hit Indonesia after the referee gave a red card directly to captain Rizky Ridho. In a limp, playing with 10 people, at the end of time Pratama Arhan scored an own goal. Even so, the Indonesian chance to advance to the 2024 Paris Olympics is still open.

All Indonesians have high expectations for Shin Tae-yong's squad ahead of the kick-off match against Uzbekistan U23 at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha. How not, this is the first time Garuda Muda has made it to the semifinals of the U23 Asian Cup. Moreover, it was achieved through good performance against South Korea, even though it had to fall up until it was on penalties.

But that performance did not repeat when dealing with Uzbekistan, a team that had never been absent throughout the U23 Asian Cup. At least, that's what the statistics of last night's match depicted.

Indonesia was hit by 28 shots by Uzbekistan, four of which headed for the goal. This figure is far ahead of STY's team who were only able to make four shots. Even with possession of the ball, in which Uzbekistan recorded 62 percent of the position ball compared to Indonesia, which was only 38 percent.

After the match, coach Shin Tae-yong explained the reason his team's game was not as good as against South Korea. According to the 53-year-old coach, the nervous condition of the players has an effect on the team's game.

He also admitted that Ferrari's goal which was disallowed by the referee for offside thin Ramadhan Sananta made his troops lose momentum. Because soon, Indonesia conceded.

"The players looked nervous before the game. It had an effect on the team's game to play well," said STY.

"That's why we can't play normally like before," he added.

What STY said is true. This is the first time the national team has completed the U23 Asian Cup finals. At this first opportunity, after passing a surprising result into the quarter-finals, expectations increased, which was to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in 68 years.

Compared to Uzbekistan who came to the U23 Asian Cup arena by bringing the squad that broke through the final in the 2022 edition, when they hosted. Nine of the total 16 players the East Kapadze coach played in the semifinals were players installed by the architect two years ago, in which Uzbekistan lost to Saudi Arabia in the top match.

Of the nine players, five of them were installed as starters against Indonesia and four as substitutes in the second half, including Jasurbek Jalolid Marital and Khusayin Norchaev.

These two experienced players effectively turned Uzbekistan more deadly than the first 45 minutes where they struggled to break into the Indonesian goal, said Antara.

Uzbekistan became the strongest team it is now because their foundations were built for a long time. They made their debut in this tournament when the U23 Asian Cup was first held in 2013. At that time Uzbekistan was stopped in the group stage. Three years later their fate has not changed.

But at the 2018 U23 Asian Cup in China, Uzbekistan transformed into a strong team. They came out as champions after beating Vietnam in the final. Two years later, they finished fourth and almost won again when they hosted in 2022. Unfortunately, the Kapadze team's ambition was thwarted by Saudi Arabia who won 2-0 in the top match.

Armed with such a myriad of experiences, Uzbekistan has become a terrible team in Qatar this year. How not, they managed to score 12 goals and conceded without conceding before facing Indonesia. At least this is an important lesson, that being a team that is subscribed to winning requires a process that is not instant.

PSSI Chairman Erick Thohir also continues to motivate the players not to slump for too long after losing to Uzbekistan. There are still two other matches that can open up Garuda Muda's hopes of feeling the atmosphere of an international tournament like the Olympics.

"This is an important second game that ensures we can qualify for the Olympics, third place we want to give up or want to fight back," Erick told the Garuda Muda players in the dressing room after the match against Uzbekistan, in a video uploaded via the @erickthohir Instagram account.

"Do we want to fight back? Ma'am or want to fight back?" continued the man who also serves as Minister of SOEs.

Indonesia U23 still has two more opportunities to ensure qualify for the 2024 Olympics. First, Pratama Arhan and his friends must win over Iraq who have just been defeated by Japan in the other semifinals. The second way is to win the playoff against Guinea if Indonesia is unable to secure third place in Qatar. The spirit of Garuda Muda, that hope still exists.