Minister praises Indonesian football team despite losing to China

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Youth and Sports Minister Dito Ariotedjo stated that the Indonesian National Football Team had given a strong performance in the 1-2 defeat to China during a FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers match last night.

"The team was dominating the game with a good offensive play. Our national team clocked 76 percent of ball possession against China's 24 percent. We must appreciate this," he noted in the Youth and Ministry's statement cited here on Wednesday.

The Garuda Squad took on China in its fourth match of the third round of the Asian qualifiers at the Youth Football Stadium in Qingdao on Monday (October 15).

Ariotedjo acknowledged that China is a strong football country in the 91st place in the FIFA rankings, whereas Indonesia is ranked 129th.

The minister, however, underlined that under Coach Shin Tae Yong, the Indonesia team had made progress in the quality of its performance.

"The ball possession rate deserves our appreciation. Regarding the referee, he worked fairly and well," he remarked while alluding to the controversial timekeeping call made by a referee in the previous match against Bahrain.

He expressed hope that Indonesia would be able to make the most of the six remaining matches to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be co-hosted by Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

"We need to once again calculate (our chances). The PSSI (Indonesian Football Association) needs to analyze whether we still have a chance to qualify for the next round," he pointed out.

Ariotedjo also spoke of being aware that the Indonesian team would find it challenging to cement a place in the World Cup.

For that reason, he called on the team to make better preparations and remain optimistic about winning the next matches.

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Translator: Aloysius L, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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