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RI young guns bow to Japan in AFC U-19 quarterfinals
In front of a crowd of 60,000, most of whom wore red jerseys, Witan Sulaeman and his teammates were outmatched by a Japanese side that frequently penetrated the Indonesian defensive line.
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Ousted: An Indonesian national team player attempts to steal the soccer ball from his Japanese opponent during an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-19 Championship quarterfinal match held at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on Sunday. Indonesia lost to Japan 2-0. Tribunnews/Herudin (Tribunnews.com/Herudin)
T
he journey for Indonesia in the biennial AFC Under-19 Championship ended in the quarterfinals after Indra Sjafri’s side lost to defending champion Japan 2-0 at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium on Sunday night. With the loss, Indonesia failed to qualify for the 2019 U-20 World Cup.
In front of a crowd of 60,000, most of whom wore red jerseys, Witan Sulaeman and his teammates were outmatched by a Japanese side that frequently penetrated the Indonesian defensive line.
Japan took control of the first half by controlling ball possession. With several assists, the Japanese threatened in and around the penalty box.
In the 15th minute, Hiroki Abe’s header barely missed, with the ball going just above Muhamad Riyandi’s crossbar.
Indonesia counterattacked in the 27th minute but Syahrian Abimanyu failed to execute on an assist from Saddil Ramdani through a free kick.
Japan scored its first goal of the match to lead 1-0 after Higashi Shunki, who was left unguarded, ripped a beautiful shot past Riyandi in the 40th minute.
In the 64th minute, Witan, who managed to pull away from a Japanese defender, failed to score on a pass from Saddil Ramdani as Japanese goalkeeper Kosei Tani took the ball from him.
The in-form Kosei made a perfect save in the 68th minute when he stopped Saddil’s free kick.
Japanese striker Taisei Miyashiro silenced the home crowd shortly after, making it 2-0 in the 70th minute after taking advantage of chaos inside the penalty area to score a goal.
The result sent Japan to the semifinal, where it will face either Saudi Arabia or Australia on Thursday.
