Indonesia U-23 Determination To Win Tickets For The 2024 Paris Olympics

Indonesia U-23 will face Iraq U-23 (doc. PSSI).

JAKARTA - The struggle of the U-23 Indonesian national team in the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup is still ongoing. They will face Iraq U-23 in the race for third place.

The third place in the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup is an automatic ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Seeing that opportunity, Garuda Muda is determined to win the match against Iraq U-23 to bring pride to Indonesia.

This strong spirit and determination was expressed by one of the U-23 Indonesian national team players, Rio Fahmi. In order to achieve the target in front of his eyes, the Persija Jakarta player said that the team did not hesitate to give all their abilities in front of Iraq U-23.

"We are ready for tomorrow's match. We will give everything on the field to win and win Olympic tickets and make Indonesian people proud," said Rio Fahmi in his head at a press conference ahead of the match, quoted on Thursday, May 2, 2024.

Rio Fahmi further said that the team's preparation was something to focus on. Even though he admits that Iraq U-23 is not an easy opponent, with thorough preparation he feels he can go through the match with the best performance.

"I think Iraq U-23 is a good team. However, we are focused on preparing ourselves and that is done so that we can win the match," he said.

If they can secure victory over Iraq U-23, Indonesia U-23 will make a historical record by qualifying for the Olympics for the first time in 68 years.

The reason is, the only opportunity Indonesia has ever tasted at the Olympics occurred in 1956 when the Olympics were held in Melbourne, Australia.

The Indonesia U-23 vs Iraq U-23 meeting took place at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Qatar, on Thursday, May 2, 2024, at 22.30 WIB.

In addition to hunting for the third position, the match is also the last way for both teams to go to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

However, for the losing team, the journey will be longer because they have to undergo a playoff match between confederations against Africa's representative, Guinea, to fight for the last Olympic ticket.