Indonesia qualified for the U23 Asian Cup for the first time

Indonesia beat Turkmenistan 2-0 in the final round of Group K of the qualifying round on the evening of September 12, winning a ticket to the U23 Asian finals for the first time.

Ivar Jenner (right) celebrates opening the scoring for Indonesia in a 2-0 win over Turkmenistan in the 2024 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers. Photo: PSSI

Before the match, Indonesia had the same three points as Turkmenistan, but led the group with a goal difference of +9 compared to the opponent's +4. Besides, the team was playing at home in Manahan, Surakarta. A draw would have been enough for both teams to advance, but Indonesia still pressed forward.

In the 40th minute, central midfielder Ivar Jenner opened the scoring. Jenner was born in 2004 in the Netherlands but his grandmother was born in Java, Indonesia, so he was naturalized in May 2023. He trained at Ajax Amsterdam from 2014 to 2016, then moved to Ultrecht and was promoted to the club's first team this year.

Conceding a goal, Turkmenistan had to attack but could not score. In the second minute of extra time, Pratama Arhan's shot hit the opponent to seal a 2-0 victory for the home team.

As the group K winner, Indonesia qualified for the U23 Asian Cup for the first time in its sixth time participating. Coach Shin Tae-yong also made history in Indonesian football by becoming the first person to help the U20, U23 and national teams to participate in the Asian finals. Indonesia was eliminated from the group stage of the U20 Asian Cup 2023. In January 2024, the team will compete in the Asian Cup in Group D with Vietnam, Iraq and Japan.

Yotsakorn (center) scored the only goal to help Thailand beat Malaysia 1-0 to win first place in Group H of the 2024 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers. Photo: FAT

Besides Indonesia, Southeast Asia has Vietnam - the winner of Group C, and Thailand - the winner of Group H - to continue. Both are qualifying for the fifth time. Vietnam beat Guam 6-0, Yemen 1-0 and drew 2-2 with Singapore, while Thailand beat the Philippines 5-0, Bangladesh 3-0 and Malaysia 1-0.

Malaysia finished second in Group H with six points, and is currently fourth in the list of runners-up, which qualifies them for the finals. Malaysia's chances of advancing are quite high, with only Tajikistan from Group I and Cambodia from Group J still competing. In the final round, both teams will face strong opponents - Tajikistan will face Australia, while Cambodia will face Saudi Arabia, so it is difficult for them to win.

Currently, the 2024 AFC U23 Championship has determined five teams with the same name as host Qatar: Korea, Vietnam, UAE, Thailand and Indonesia. The remaining 10 names will be determined after the series of matches on the evening of September 12 and early this morning, September 13.

Hieu Luong

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