Iraq U-23 Reaps Many Criticisms Ahead Of Facing Indonesia U-23

Iraq U-23 received a lot of criticism after losing against Japan U-23 (doc. AFC).

JAKARTA - The fight for third place for the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup will bring together Indonesia U-23 vs Iraq U-23. Ahead of the meeting at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Thursday, May 2, 2024, Iraq U-23 actually drew a lot of criticism.

Before stepping up to challenge the U-23 Indonesian national team, Iraq U-23 lost 0-2 to Japan U-23 in the semifinals. This moment of failure to the final was later recognized by the U-23 Iraqi coach

"We know how to deal with this. We are trying to reduce pressure because there is a lot of criticism even though the criticism can be constructive", Shenaishil said at a press conference ahead of the match.

Despite the many criticisms that came after failing to win a ticket to the final, Shenaishil, who is also an Iraqi national team legend, said he would continue to accompany and guard his team so that they could focus on fighting Indonesia U-23.

"We are trying to keep the players focused. There are a lot of people who support us. Sometimes we don't know where the criticism comes from, who is the journalist who wrote it," said Shenaishil.

"We are trying to protect our players from this (criticism) because they have performed well. They have faced a big team, such as Saudi Arabia U-23 and others," said the coach.

The match will be crucial for both teams, especially Indonesia U-23 who are determined to appear in the Olympics for the first time after the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

Iraq U-23 and Indonesia U-23 will be in high motivation to win this match. If you win, the ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics will automatically be in your hands.

If you lose, the trip to Paris will be longer because you have to have a playoff match between the confederations against the African representative, Guinea.