May 3 – Clinching a bronze medal at the U23 Asian Cup with a 2-1 extra-time victory against Indonesia, Iraq claimed Asia’s third and final ticket for the Olympic Games.
The Iraqis will join Japan and Uzbekistan in Paris at the men’s football tournament after defeating the Indonesians, who had dreamed of returning to the Olympic Games for the first time since 1956. Zaid Tahseen’s strike cancelled out Ivar Jenner’s 19th-minute goal for Indonesia before Ali Jassim found the winner in extra time.
“The main heroes are our players,” said Iraq coach Radhi Shenaishil. “It was a great battle and it wasn’t easy for us. The tournament started with a loss (against Thailand) and that put us under great pressure. I’m used to that, but some of the players are young and they don’t have the experience to deal with that pressure.”
“We can’t talk about the future, we’re going to have some rest and then we’ll meet to establish a special programme for the Olympic Games. The players that were with us here, we shouldn’t disappoint them. They deserve to be in Paris. The Indonesia team here had many players in Europe so we might also call up some extra players that didn’t play in this competition. But it’s difficult now to talk about names.”
It’s the sixth time that Iraq will feature in the Olympic tournament, having first participated in 1960 in Rome. In 2004, in Athens, they finished fourth, their best-ever result. The Iraqis failed to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Indonesia’s hopes of Olympic qualification are not at an end yet. They will face Guinea on May 9 in a playoff.
Japan and Uzbekistan, Asia’s other representatives in Paris, will play the U-23 Asian Cup final tonight at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha.
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