Hosts Indonesia and hopefuls Malaysia were eliminated from the 2018 Asian Games men’s football tournament yesterday, with respective losses to the UAE and Japan enough to eliminate both sides on the narrowest of margins.
On home soil, Indonesia faced the tough task of turning around a poor record against Arab teams, having lost all of their last four matches against teams from the region. Despite going behind twice, goals from naturalized citizens Beto Goncalves and Stefano Lilipaly were enough to drag the tie into extra time, only for the hosts to be eliminated on penalties.
Malaysia faced a similar disappointment, after losing to a penalty strike from Ayase Ueda in stoppage time, after keeping the game scoreless for over 90 minutes.
Japan’s youthful side, which features only players aged 21 or younger, continue their preparations for the Olympic games that they are set to host in 2020. They will now prepare to face Saudi Arabia in the quarterfinals, who eliminated China by the odd goal in seven.
Regardless of the defeat, Malaysia has succeeded in unearthing a number of gems from this tournament, including the likes of top-scorer Safawi Rasid, defensive stalwart Irfan Zakaria, and tricky winger Akhyar Rashid. Additionally, their run to the knockout stage and their impressive group stage victory over South Korea make the campaign a memorable one.
North Korea completed the quarter-final lineup after a 3-1 victory over unlikely qualifiers Bangladesh, and will take on the UAE for a spot in the semi-finals.
These results leave Vietnam as the sole representative of South East Asia going into the last eight. With Syria awaiting them in the next round, this is a task that the side will surely relish, as they are full of belief having yet to concede a goal in the entirety of the tournament.