Indonesian U-23 national team will face the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the match of the last 16 of the 2018 Asian Games which will take place at Wibawa Mukti Stadium, Cikarang, Friday (08/24/2018) afternoon WIB. The game will print its own history for both teams.
Indonesia won the ticket to the last 16 of the 2018 Asian Games thanks to the status of Group A. The UAE advanced to the knock-out phase with the third best ranking of Group C.
The match will be the first meeting for both teams in official matches. This feels interesting because both teams are equally blind to each other's strengths and weaknesses.
As for the senior level, the Indonesian national team had met the UAE in the 1996 Asian Cup stage. At that time, the Garuda national team had to take a 0-2 defeat of the UAE which won thanks to goals from Hassan Saeed (15 ') and Adnan Khamees Al-Talyani (64' )
Of course that is not a benchmark for the Indonesia U-23 national team. Moreover, Luis Milla's troops have appeared stunning throughout the group stage with 11 goals scored and only conceded three goals.
However, Luis Milla also cannot forget the minor notes he has with the U-23 national team when facing a team from the Middle East. The Spanish coach had never been able to bring Hansamu Yama and his team to victory over the team from the Arabian Peninsula.
The Indonesian Under-23 national team under Luis Milla's side swallowed three defeats against teams from the Middle East. The details are the 0-1 defeat of Syria (Friendship Match), 0-1 surrender to Bahrain (2018 PSSI Anniversary Cup), and the last 1-2 defeat of Palestine (2018 Asian Games).
The Indonesian Under-23 national team throughout the 2018 Asian Games is known as a team that is always frustrated in the first 45 minutes of the match. In terms of quality, there were many opportunities that were present in the first round, but most failed to score goals.
As many as 11 goals scored by the Indonesia U-23 national team throughout the preliminary round, only two occurred in the first round. The remaining nine occurred in the 45th minute of the second half.
The Middle East team is known as a team that has a high fighting spirit and will press throughout the game. Because, they have players with tough physical abilities.
Reflecting on three UAE matches in the group stage, four of the five goals they scored occurred in the first round. This is proof that the UAE has always pressured opponents from the start, scored goals, and survived later.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian U-23 national team is known to often lose concentration when the preoccupation of attacking in the first round. It was proven that as many as two of the three goals that tore the Red-White Team nets occurred in the first round.
In contrast, the UAE also has a bad defense towards the end of the game. The situation is believed to be due to the decline in the physical quality of the player. Because, as evidenced by the three goals nested in the UAE goal two of which occurred in the last 20 minutes of the match.
Reflecting on the analysis above, coach Luis Milla certainly had to play attack from the start and again rely on wing players. By inviting UAE players to run, the Young Garuda Team had the opportunity to make the opponents exhausted which made their defense line open.