Indonesia U-23 Lacks Weapons Against Guinea At The 2024 Olympic Playoff

Indonesian U-23 national team player Justin Hubner (photo: Doc. INSTAGRAM @justinhubner5)

JAKARTA The Indonesian U-23 national team lacked weapons due to the absence of Justin Hubner and Rizky Ridho in an important match against Guinea at the 2024 Paris Olympics playoffs.

The duel of the two teams to win one ticket remaining for the football sport will take place at INF Clairefontaine, Paris, France, Thursday, May 9 evening WIB. Kick off the match starts at 20.00 WIB.

The coach of the Indonesian national team Shin Tae Yong ensured that his squad could not be strengthened by the two names above for different reasons. This is one of the serious problems he has to face.

"Justin is not released [by his club]. I understand the club. It is very sad and unfortunate that Indonesia does not often get the opportunity to qualify for the Olympics. Moreover, this is the last opportunity," he said.

Ridho was indeed due to a red card yesterday so he was banned from playing twice during the match until the match against Guinea, "added the 53-year-old South Korean tactician.

The coaching team and federation had tried to call Elkan Baggott to fill the void in the back line. However, the player has not been able to join Garuda Muda until now. Shin also looked a little annoyed when answering questions from the media crew about whether the player could join or not.

"For Elkan, maybe Indonesian media can follow his schedule and behavior and find out for themselves," Shin replied.

Indonesia had to undergo the Olympic playoffs after losing against Iraq in the race for third place in the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup. The playoffs were the last chance for the Red and White to qualify for France.

This match only takes place once so that Indonesia needs to win to qualify. If you lose, the Garuda squad will need to wait another four years and not necessarily get the opportunity like now.