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'We'll leave it up to the heavens to advance to the round of 16,'

Indonesia head coach Shin Tae-yong hopes to progress from the group stage of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, saying he will "leave it to the will of the heavens" to reach the round of 16.

Indonesia fell 1-3 to Japan in their final Group D match of the tournament on Thursday (June 24) at the Altumama Stadium in Doha, Qatar.

With the loss, Indonesia finished the group stage in third place with a record of 1-2-2 (3 points, -3 goals against).

After the game, head coach Shin Tae-yong said, "First of all, congratulations to Japan for the victory. I have to admit that Japan is a good team. I also want to applaud the players who tried their best," he said, "but I have some complaints about the referee's decision."

Indonesia's first-ever group stage finish will be determined by the results of Bahrain-Jordan in Group E and Oman-Kyrgyzstan in Group F on Friday. Indonesia will have to hope for a Bahrain thrashing or a draw between Oman and Kyrgyzstan.

The tournament will feature 24 teams competing in six four-team brackets. The top four teams from the first, second, and third places in each group will qualify for the round of 16.

Coach Shin Tae-yong said, "I can't talk about the round of 16. I'll leave it to the will of the heavens," said Shin, who will rest the entire squad on the 25th and watch the results of the Group E and F matches.

Indonesia conceded three goals against Japan on the day but defended well and threatened with intermittent counterattacks.

"Japan has a lot of skillful players up front," said Shin Tae-yong. They are good at counterattacking and pressing. It was not easy for Indonesia to break through their pressure," said Shin. "The inexperienced young players had difficulty converting the ball into offense after winning it. We need time to improve this aspect. We'll work on it," he said of Japan's strengths.

He continued, "One of their weaknesses was their distribution. Therefore, in the second half, we tried to attack them by putting Elkan, a defender, in front 토토 of them." Elkan is a long defender at 194 centimeters and was substituted in the second half as a forward to put pressure on Japan.

With a spot in the round of 16 still up for grabs, Shin said: "This tournament has been a good experience for me and for Indonesian football. Despite having the youngest average age and the second lowest FIFA ranking, we were not outclassed by our opponents. I saw hope from the players who played well. It will help the younger players," he said of the tournament's achievements.