Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The Indonesian U-23 national team (national team) had to be willing to accept defeat against Iraq to win third place in the 2024 Asian Cup. In a fierce match from Thursday (2/5) evening to Friday (3/5) early morning, the Garuda Muda squad lost to score 1-2 against Iraq.
There is still hope to advance to the 2024 Paris Olympics, namely through a play-off match with Guinea. The match will be held on Thursday (9/5) at 19.00 WIB in Clairenfontaine, France.
In the midst of the Indonesian national team's defeat against Iraq and their last hope against Guinea, netizens were busy discussing Nathan Tjoe-A-On, an Indonesian footballer who is a member of the Dutch club, Eredivisie Heerenveen.
The footballer of Indonesian descent who was born in the Netherlands received praise from netizens because he was considered to have played all-out in the match against Iraq.
The reason is, he managed to appear excellent by playing in midfield. Nathan Tjoe-A-On seemed focused on blocking the opponent's attack, especially when Ernando Ari made a mistake by picking up the ball, but failed.
Iraqi player Mohad Mohammed used this momentum to put the ball into the empty net. However, Nathan Tjoe-A-On moved quickly and blocked the action.
Many netizens think Nathan Tjoe-A-On is the best player in the U-23 national team in yesterday's match. Check out some of the comments collected by CNBC Indonesia:
For the next match, the team coached by Shin Tae-yong (STY). cannot underestimate the strength of the Guinea U-23 team. Because players Guinea U-23s are mostly retainers of the Guinean senior team. So in terms of experience, the young Guinean team has been tested.
Even in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, Guinea was able to compete with the World Cup regular, Cameroon.
Apart from that, the Guinea U-23 Team also has experience playing in European clubs. There are Aguibou Camara (Atromitos), Algassime Bah (Olypiacos), Nabu Oulare (Boluspor).
Currently the Guinea Team is ranked 76th in FIFA as of April 2024 with 1,324.65 points. Guinea's highest FIFA ranking is 22nd and the lowest is 123rd.
According to Transfermarkt data, the Guinea U-23 team currently has a market value of IDR 133.4 billion.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
(fab/fab)