IRAQ secured a crucial 1-0 victory against Indonesia in their World Cup qualifier held in Jeddah on Saturday.
Zidane Iqbal’s second-half goal maintained Iraq’s hopes for their first World Cup appearance since 1986 while eliminating Patrick Kluivert’s Indonesian squad.
The former Manchester United midfielder, now with Utrecht, scored with 14 minutes remaining after entering as a second-half substitute.
This result sets up a decisive Tuesday match between Iraq and Saudi Arabia for direct World Cup qualification.
The winner of that match will advance to the World Cup while the runner-up enters another preliminary round.
Indonesia’s elimination comes after suffering two consecutive losses in the qualifiers.
“We knew it would be a tough game with the temperature and everything but this 1-0 victory will give us a lot of confidence,“ said Iqbal.
“It will be a tough game against Saudi Arabia but hopefully we will win.”
Indonesia started brightly and appeared more likely to secure the victory they needed.
Kevin Diks headed wide early while Thom Haye narrowly missed from distance soon after.
Mauro Zijlstra was denied his first international goal by Manaf Younis’s last-ditch tackle in the six-yard box.
Sherko Karim’s 29th-minute header over the bar represented Iraq’s closest first-half opportunity.
Indonesia controlled the opening 45 minutes without converting their dominance into goals.
Rizky Ridho’s defensive mistake ultimately proved costly for the Indonesian side.
The defender gifted possession to Iraq, leading to the ball reaching Iqbal at the edge of the area.
Iqbal calmly slotted a perfect finish into the bottom corner for the match-winning goal.
Tempers flared near the final whistle as Indonesian fans expressed their frustration.
Captain Jay Idzes acted as peacemaker when supporters threw water bottles following a disputed Chinese referee decision.
Zaid Tahseen received a second yellow card nine minutes into stoppage time.
Iraq held on despite being reduced to ten men to maintain their World Cup qualification hopes.
The victory keeps Iraq in contention to join Asia’s confirmed World Cup representatives Japan, South Korea, Australia, Iran, Uzbekistan and Jordan. – Reuters
