TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian U-23 national team will take on Qatar in the opening match of the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024, which will be held at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha today, April 15.

Indonesia coach Shin Tae-Yong revealed his team's current preparations and conditions ahead of the match. He admitted that the preparations have not been perfect, but =expressed confidence ahead of the match against the hosts following the positive results in two trials during the previous training camp.

“The U-23 Asian Cup is not on the FIFA calendar so I can't say that our preparations are perfect. But we are still trying to face it and build a team and hopefully, we can give a good performance in this tournament,” he said at the press conference on Sunday, April 14.

“In Dubai, we played two international friendly matches against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. We gained good experience, our performance improved, and the players are confident. These two matches have helped our team,” he added.

The South Korean national considered Qatar to be one of the toughest opponents in this year’s youth soccer tournament. After all, they are the hosts and their senior team has just won the Asian Cup 2023.

However, he continued to instill confidence in the Indonesian U-23 national team players to put their best foot forward on the pitch. “I think the Qatar U-23 team is one of the strongest teams in this tournament. Of course, I need to build the confidence of the Indonesian players so that they can get out of the pressure and show our strength in this event.”

The Indonesian U-23 national team breathed a sigh of relief ahead of the match against Qatar after it was confirmed that naturalized player Nathan Tjoe-A-On will be able to join them. SC Heerenveen, the club he plays for in the Dutch Eredivisie League, has agreed to release the player and he is expected to arrive in Doha on Monday, April 15.

Nathan's presence will boost strength to the backline. Earlier, it was confirmed that another player from Cerezo Osaka, Justin Hubner, will follow his colleagues to Qatar. The 20-year-old defender was expected to join the Indonesian U-23 national team on April 17.

RANDY FAUZI FEBRIANSYAH

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