Preview AFC U-23 Asian Cup Semifinal: Indonesia Vs Uzbekistan Tonight
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29 April 2024 19:24 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Hoping to make another history at the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup, the Indonesian national team is aiming for victory when they take on Uzbekistan in the semifinal at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium on Monday, April 29, at 21:00 Jakarta time. The win for the team coached by Shin Tae-yong will lead Indonesia to set foot in the final and secure a ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Rizky Ridho and his friends advanced to the knockout round as a debutant team after beating Australia and Jordan, as well as South Korea in the quarterfinal. The young Garuda side will face their biggest challenge against Uzbekistan.
Indonesia U-23 head coach Shin Tae-yong expressed his admiration for Uzbekistan. “Uzbekistan is an outstanding, stable, organized, and disciplined team,” he said as reported by the AFC.
“After watching them, I understood why they could score 12 goals and not concede any. The key is their quick transitions – both attacking and defending – making them one of the strongest teams in the tournament. It won't be easy in the semifinals but we are in good shape, so hopefully we can yield good results,” said the coach who is a South Korean national.
Although the Indonesian team got an extra day to recover after their quarterfinal match against South Korea, Shin Tae-yong argued that it would not be of much use as the match went into a penalty shootout.
Uzbekistan's Perfect Record
Uzbekistan advanced to the semifinals as the only team with a perfect record of four wins at the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup. With as many as 10 different players capable of scoring goals, coach Timur Kapadze has a wide variety of attacking options at his disposal, making them strong favorites for the final round.
“We are pleased to have reached this round. We will face a difficult match against Indonesia, but we will be ready. Every match is difficult for us, especially the last match against Saudi Arabia,” he said.
“[The match] against Indonesia is another match, and we will work as usual. We have a strategy to fight Indonesia and will try implementing it in the game. [The stadium which will be filled with Indonesian supporters] will not affect us because we have experience playing in front of many people,” said Timur Kapadze.
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