Before Losing, The Indonesian U-24 Cycling Team Could Defeat Taiwan In The Second Match Of The 2023 Asian Games Group Elimination

The U-24 Indonesian national team lost to Taiwan in the second match of the 2023 Asian Games group stage. (Photo: Doc. NOC Indonesia)

JAKARTA The coach of the Indonesian U-23 national team (Timnas) Indra Sjafri said before losing, his team was in a very confident position to beat Taiwan. However, the facts on the ground did not match expectations.

Indra Sjafri's troops were forced to surrender with a dramatic score of 0-1 in the second match of Group F of the 2023 Asian Games at Zhejiang Normal University East Stadium, Jinhua, Thursday, September 21 evening WIB.

"Of course this result is very disappointing for us. So, we are very difficult in the group position even with one win. In fact, we really believed we could win the match," said Indra after the match.

In this match, Indonesia actually appeared to dominate the match. There were a total of 15 attempted shots and nine on target, but none of them resulted in goals.

Indra said, according to what they predicted, the opponent's defense was very difficult to dismantle. The opponent appeared very solid and really managed to make it difficult for Indonesian players.

"Actually, what we predicted against Taiwan's game, they definitely played defensively and we in the first half couldn't dismantle their defense," said Indra.

"In fact, on the contrary, they were the ones who could carry out the attack and then produced one goal. After the goal occurred the players could not get up. I then made several changes to be able to change the situation, but not much helped. And indeed this result, is a result that we really don't want," continued the former Bali United coach.

The defeat against Chinese Taipei made it even more difficult for Indonesia to qualify from the group stage. To keep the chance to qualify, Garuda Troops must win in the last match against North Korea.

If you win, Indonesia's opportunity to finish as runners up in open groups. However, if you lose, the chances of qualifying will be closed.