No Compromise from STY for South Korea

The STY factor became Indonesia's capital to conquer South Korea. A domino effect will be experienced by South Korea U-23 if they lose.

HUMAS PSSI

Indonesia's coach Shin Tae-yong made a statement ahead of the match between Indonesia and South Korea in the quarter-finals of the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup on Wednesday (24/4/2024) at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar. Shin will face his home country.

DOHA, WEDNESDAY — Even though he has great love for his homeland, South Korea, Indonesia U-23 coach Shin Tae-yong will not compromise for the South Korean U-23 team in the quarter-final match U-Asian Cup 23 2024, Friday (26/4/2024) at 00.30 WIB, at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha, Qatar. Shin has the opportunity to break the trend of South Korean participation in the Olympics since the 1988 Seoul edition.

Shin spent 12 years of his career as a professional football player and his first decade as a coach in his home country. Similar to Indonesia, he has also experienced coaching South Korea's national team at three levels, starting from U-20, U-23, to the senior team. He has also led South Korea in two of the biggest football events, namely the World Cup and the Olympics.

Nevertheless, Shin emphasized that his background and life history would not interfere with his ambition to create a new history for Indonesian football. Shin only needs one more victory to meet his target and PSSI's target to reach the semifinals of the 2024 U-23 Asia Cup, and then two positive results to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics. For this, he must first eliminate South Korea.

By reaching the semi-finals, Indonesia will need one more victory from the two remaining matches, namely the semi-finals and the final or third-place match, to secure an automatic ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics. The winner of the match between Indonesia and South Korea will face the winner of the Uzbekistan versus Saudi Arabia duel in the quarterfinals.

HUMAS PSSI

Indonesia's coach, Shin Tae-yong, together with defender and captain of the U-23 Indonesian team, Rizky Ridho, took a photo after attending a press conference ahead of the match between Indonesia and South Korea in the quarterfinals of the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup on Wednesday (24/4/2024) at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha, Qatar.

"To be honest, it is very difficult to compete against South Korea because I have coached the U-20, U-23, and senior teams, sung the national anthem together with South Korean players, and faced other teams alongside the South Korean team. Nevertheless, sports is sports, and a match is a match. Therefore, I will try my best to help my team get the best results," said Shin in a press conference ahead of the match at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium on Wednesday (24/4/2024)."

If he can defeat his country, Shin will end South Korea's glorious achievement of never missing out on the men's football event in the Olympics since becoming the host in 1988. With nine consecutive appearances in the world's biggest sports festival, South Korea is an Asian ambassador with the most consecutive appearances record in the Olympics.

"To be honest, I wanted us (Indonesia and South Korea) to meet in the final to both qualify for the Olympics. However, tournament results cannot be manipulated," said Shin, who led South Korea to the quarterfinal of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics 2016.

Best power

Shin's confidence in being able to create another surprise in the 2024 Asian U-23 Cup is based on the Indonesian squad's current best condition. In addition to the important victories over Australia and Jordan in the knockout phase, all players in the "Garuda Muda" squad are ready to be deployed from the start.

Also read: If you beat South Korea, the U-23 Indonesian National Team will appear in France

AFC

Midfielder from Indonesia, Nathan Tjoe-A-On, took control of the ball during the Group A match of the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup on Sunday (21/4/2024), at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha, Qatar.

Nathan Tjoe-A-On, a versatile player, has obtained permission from his club, SC Heerenveen, to complete his national duties with Indonesia in the 2024 U-23 Asia Cup.

The performance of the Rotterdam-born player is crucial in Indonesia's midfield. Together with Ivar Jenner, Nathan works shoulder-to-shoulder to control the game, regulate the tempo, dampen the opponent's attacks, and initiate deadly counter-attacks for Garuda Muda.

On the other hand, Indonesia also hopes for the best performance of the defender trio consisting of Rizky Ridho, Muhammad Ferrari and Justin Hubner to appear strong against South Korea's attacks. Not to forget, goalkeeper Ernando Ari's slick performance could also be decisive in fulfilling Indonesia's targets.

The attacking trio, Marselino Ferdinan, Rafael Struick, and Witan Sulaeman, who have become increasingly solid and understand each other well, are the key to Indonesia's victory over South Korea. Shin also needs to improve the performance of these three so that they become more clinical in the opponent's penalty box.

Also read: Nathan Returns, Indonesian U-23 Team Full Strength Against South Korea

I will try hard to help my team get the best results.

HUMAS PSSI

Indonesian attacker, Rafael Struick, unleashed a kick in the midst of a Jordanian defender's control during the Group A match of the 2024 U-23 Asia Cup on Sunday (21/4/2024) at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha.

Ridho, who is the captain of Indonesia, revealed a great motivation enveloping the team ahead of facing South Korea. The return of Nathan, the defender from Persija Jakarta, was welcomed positively by all Garuda Muda players.

"If we win against South Korea, we may have already secured 50 percent of our ticket to the Olympics. We will work hard because we are not satisfied with just reaching the quarter-finals. We will prepare ourselves with the coach to focus on the target of qualifying for the Olympics," said Ridho.

South Korea U-23 coach Hwang Sun-hong admitted that Shin was the main factor that made Indonesia a strong team and should not be underestimated. South Korea closed the competition in Group B with a collection of nine points and not conceding a goal.

"Several players who have been naturalized as Indonesians have also made significant contributions to the team. They play very effectively and have a very talented attacking line. So, we must prepare well and play our own style of game to win," said Hwang, who won a gold medal in the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games in October 2023.

Also read: Indonesia meets South Korea, Shin Tae-yong's wish finally comes true

HUMAS PSSI

Indonesia's wing attacker, Marselino Ferdinan, executed a penalty that gave Indonesia the lead over Jordan in the Group A match of the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup on Sunday (21/4/2024) at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha.

Furthermore, Hwang mentioned that Indonesia has a very solid team organization. He revealed that the "Taegeuk" squad would try to control the game and anticipate the presence of spaces that Indonesian players could exploit to pose threats in their defensive zone.

Greater pressure

Watching the duel between Shin and Hwang actually makes South Korean football lovers anxious. Although Hwang has contributed a gold medal in the 2022 Asian Games, Shin is still considered to have better coaching abilities.

"Shin has much better strategic abilities than Hwang," said Ahn Hong-seok, a sports journalist for the South Korean news agency, Yonhap, in a short message conversation with Kompas.

Furthermore, Ahn mentioned that there is greater pressure on Hwang and his squad. In addition to halting their routine performance in the Olympics, a loss to Indonesia will have a domino effect on the future of Hwang and the young players of the Taegeuk Squad in the U-23 team.

Also read: Shin Tae-yong is optimistic about hunting for tickets to the Paris Olympics

AFC

South Korean midfielder Kim Dong-jin took control of the ball to free himself from the Japanese striker Ryotaro Araki during the final match of Group B in the 2024 Asia U-23 Cup at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar on Monday (22/4/2024). South Korea won 1-0 to secure the top position in the group.

"Hwang is now being discussed to train the senior team, so if they fail to qualify for Paris, that is impossible," said Ahn.

"Failing to qualify for the Olympics also means that top South Korean footballers under 23 years of age will now have to join the military. This will have an impact on player development and is also not good for K-League teams," he added.