Indonesia's fierce match against Iraq in the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup

The 2024 U-23 Asian Cup semifinalists are filled with tough teams. Indonesia lost to Iraq when fighting for third place.

AFP/KARIM JAAFAR

The Indonesian players sang "Indonesia Raya" before facing Iraq in the third-place match of the U-23 Asia Cup at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday (2/5/2024). Indonesia lost to Iraq 1-2.

The Indonesia national team faces tough Asian teams, Uzbekistan and Iraq, in the final four match of the Asian Cup U-23 2024. After losing to Uzbekistan in the semifinal match, Indonesia was again unlucky to win third place against Iraq, Thursday (2/5/2024). The Indonesian national team lost 1-2 to Iraq through extra time (extratime)..

This victory for Iraq reflects two factors of Iraq's resilience; their experience in competing and their previous track record of achievements. In terms of experience in competing, Iraq has played more matches compared to Indonesia.

The performance of Iraq's U-23 national team has been recorded from their performances over the past two years. According to Transfermarkt data from March 22, 2023 to April 29, 2024, Iraq has played in 28 matches.

The games played by Iraq are spread out starting from the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) U-23 Championship in 2023, the qualifiers for the U-23 Asian Cup, friendly matches, to the final round of the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup which is currently being held in Qatar.

The Indonesian national U-23 team has played only 11 matches in the past two years, from August 18, 2023, to April 29, 2024. Looking at this record, the number of matches played by the Indonesian U-23 team is not even half compared to the Iraqi U-23 national team. Those 11 matches played by Indonesia in the past two years were qualification matches for the U-23 Asia Cup, the AFF U-23 Cup, and the final round of the 2024 U-23 Asia Cup.

AFP/KARIM JAAFAR

Iraqi player Zaid Tahseen (right/4) and Indonesian player Witan Sulaeman (left/8) vie for the ball in the third-place playoff in the U-23 Asian Cup at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday (2/5/2024).

As the frequency of games played increases, the Iraqi U-23 national team also wins more matches. Out of 28 matches played in the past two years, the Iraqi U-23 national team has won 17 matches.

Meanwhile, in seven other matches, the Iraqi U-23 team suffered defeats. Four other matches ended in a draw. These data shows that in the past two years, the Iraqi U-23 team has managed to win the majority (60 percent) of their matches.

If we narrow down the timeframe, the same phenomenon is shown by Iraq this year. As of April 29, 2024, the Iraqi U-23 national team has played 11 matches. They have won seven of their matches (63 percent), while losing the other four games.

PIALA ASIA U-23

Indonesian player Marselino Ferdinan (left/7) competes for the ball with Iraqi player Karrar Mohammed Ali in the match for third place in the U-23 Asia Cup at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday (2/5/2024).

Balanced quality between Iraq and Indonesia

The second factor that becomes the strength of Iraq's U-23 national team is their track record of achievements in the past. In 2023, they succeeded in becoming champions in the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) U-23 2023 Championship.

Previous achievements have also been carved out by Iraq's U-23 national team over the past decade. In 2013, Iraq became the champion of the U-23 Asian Cup. Another achievement was at the 2014 Asian Games held in Incheon, South Korea. At that time, Iraq successfully won a bronze medal.

Another strength of the Iraqi U-23 team is the presence of several of its players in European football leagues. These players include defender Roman Doulashi, who plays for FC Schalke 04 U-19 in Germany, and Josef al-Imam, who plays for BK Olympic in Sweden. Additionally, there are forward players Ali al-Mosawe (CF Estrela Amadora U-23 in Portugal) and Bind Hassan (De Graafschap in the Netherlands).

Although having experience in competition, a track record of achievements, and some players' experience in the European league, the Indonesian U-23 national team can actually keep up with Iraq. In the match for the third position of the 2024 U-23 Asia Cup, Indonesia briefly led 1-0 in the 19th minute through a goal scored by Ivan Jenner. Indonesia's resistance also managed to make Iraq play until 120 minutes after both teams shared a draw of 1-1.

Another factor is Iraq's track record of losing in several matches. Looking back, the timeline of matches played by Iraq is not always ended with victory. This means that Iraq can actually also be defeated by other teams.

In the last two years, the Iraqi national team recorded seven defeats. The last defeat occurred on April 29 2024 against Japan in the semifinals of the U-23 2024 Asian Cup. Iraq lost 0-2. Iraq also suffered their biggest defeat to Ivory Coast in a friendly match, 21 November 2023, with a score of 0-4.

Apart from Japan and Ivory Coast, there are four other countries that have defeated Iraq. Those four countries are Jordan, Australia and South Korea. Going back further to 2022, Iraq was also defeated by Uzbekistan. Interestingly, Indonesia defeated all four of these countries in the final round of the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup.

The competitiveness of the Indonesian U-23 national team against Iraq can also be seen from the proportion of wins and match statistics. The percentage of wins achieved by the Indonesian U-23 national team tends to be the same as that obtained by the Iraqi U-23 team.

AFP/KARIM JAAFAR

Indonesian player Ivar Jenner (center/6) celebrates his goal against Iraq in front of the audience at the match for the third place position of the U-23 Asian Cup at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha, Qatar on Thursday (2/5/2024).

Out of 11 matches in the last two years, "Garuda Muda" won seven matches (63 percent) and lost four other matches. The proportion of victories also occurred this year. Out of the five matches played in 2024, Indonesia won three matches (60 percent).

The statistics of the final round of the 2024 Asian Cup U-23 also demonstrate the ability of the "Garuda Muda" team. According to data from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the U-23 national team is able to match Iraq in terms of scoring goals. In the five matches played by both teams until the semifinals, Indonesia and Iraq each scored seven goals.

The results of the match for third place on Thursday (2/5/2024) also showed the game statistics of Indonesia, which was able to match Iraq. Based on the data released by the AFC, the ball possession of the Indonesian players was more (52 percent) than Iraq (48 percent).

HUMAS PSSI

Indonesian player Jeam Kelly Sroyer dribbles the ball in Iraq's defense during the third-place play-off match in the U-23 Asian Cup at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar on Thursday (May 2nd, 2024).

Not much different from Iraq, several Indonesian players also play in leagues of various countries. Pratama Arhan plays for Suwon FC (South Korea) and Justin Hubner plays for Cerezo Osaka (Japan). Other names include Rafael Struick (ADO Den Haag, Netherlands), Marselino Ferdinan (KMSK Deinze, Belgium), Ivan Jenner (FC Ultrecht U-21, Netherlands), and Nathan (SC Heerenveen, Netherlands).

The presence of world-class players makes the market value of the Indonesian U-23 national team higher than that of Iraq. Based on Transfermarkt data accessed on May 2, 2024, the market value of these young Indonesian players reaches 83.43 billion rupiahs, while Iraqi players are valued at 34.33 billion rupiahs.

Also read: History and Achievements of the Indonesian U-23 Team in the Asian Cup

However, despite all the potential and opportunities that Indonesia possesses, it has not been able to thwart Iraq's victory. To date, the achievements of young Indonesian players are successfully getting through to the semifinals of the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup and holding the fourth position.

The Indonesian U-23 national team's participation in the 2024 Paris Olympics is still awaiting the results of the inter-zone playoff match against the African team, Guinea, which will be held on May 9 2024. (LITBANG KOMPAS)

Also read: Indonesia's challenge to match Vietnam's achievements in the U-23 Asian Cup