Still unable to score a single goal after 180 minutes in the men's U23 Asian Cup, coach Tony Vidmar's outfit may have suffered a terminal blow after Indonesian Komang Teguh netted the goal just before halftime that gave the tournament debutants a shock win in Doha on Thursday.
The nightmare goal for the 'Roos at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium came after 20-year-old Socceroo Mohamed Toure had his 25th-minute penalty saved by Indonesia's diving hero Ernando Ari Sutaryadi.
The — Football Australia (@FootballAUS) #Olyroos went down to Indonesia in their second Group A match at the #AsianCupU23.📰🎥 Match Report and Highlights 👇April 18, 2024
It's left the blunt Olyroos with just one point from their two games and the grim prospect of not even reaching the knockout stages of an event in which they have to finish third to guarantee a place in Paris.
Indonesia had lost 2-0 to Qatar on Monday and now Vidmar's side, who drew 0-0 against Jordan in their opening match, must defeat the hosts in the final round of group matches on Sunday to have any hope of progressing.
The Olyroos' much-vaunted attacking quality, with Garang Kuol, Alou Kuol and Toure up front, once again failed to materialise as only four of their 16 attempts on goal found the target.
Meanwhile, Komang's close-range headed goal was the only one of their four goalbound attempts to find the target.
The nearest Australia came to scoring was when Toure, moments after his penalty miss, almost made amends by heading against the bar from a corner.
World Cup hero Garang Kuol came on as part of a triple substitution in the 75th minute with Vidmar getting ever more desperate, but even with 11 minutes of time added on, his side still couldn't break down some stubborn defending.
