Olympic football dream dashed for S. Korean-coached Indonesia

Coached by South Korean tactician Shin Tae-yong, Indonesia have had their Olympic football dream crushed in a loss in the last-chance playoff match.

Indonesia fell to Guinea 1-0 in their intercontinental playoff showdown for the Paris Olympics at INF Clairefontaine in Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines, France, on Thursday (local time).

Shin was trying to guide Indonesia to their first Olympic appearance since 1956.

Indonesia ended up in this playoff after finishing in fourth place at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup in Qatar last week. That AFC competition doubled as the Asian qualifiers for Paris 2024, with the top three teams — Japan, Uzbekistan and Iraq — grabbing direct tickets.

Indonesia upset South Korea in the quarterfinals before losing to Uzbekistan in the semifinals and then to Iraq in the third-place match.

Guinea finished fourth in the African qualifying tournament, the U-23 African Cup of Nations, in July last year.

Ilaix Moriba’s 29th-minute penalty stood as the winner for Guinea, now bound for the Olympics for just the second time.

Shin was shown a red card in the 75th minute for arguing a penalty decision with referee Francois Letexier. Algassime Bah struck the left goal post with his spot kick, but Guinea hung on to earn their spot in Paris.