Jakarta. Justin Hubner, Indonesia's U-23 team captain, might miss the playoff against Guinea for the Paris 2024 Olympics on May 9 as he has to return to his club, Cerezo Osaka.

Erick Thohir, Chairman of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI), hopes that Cerezo Osaka will allow their key central defender to participate in the Olympic playoff.

"We are losing Justin's contribution as he was called up by Cerezo Osaka. We have sent a letter to Cerezo Osaka to request his involvement again," Erick told reporters in Jakarta, on Sunday.

"The Japanese league has not yet reached its final stage; it is still in its early stages. Therefore, I hope that Cerezo Osaka and the Japanese government will continue to maintain good relations with Indonesia and support Indonesian football," he added.

Hubner, Indonesia's Defensive Mainstay

Justin Quincy Hubner was born in Den Bosch, Netherlands, on September 14, 2003. He has Indonesian ancestry from his father's side, with his grandmother hailing from Bandung and his grandfather from Makassar, while his mother is Dutch.

With a height of 187 cm, Justin Hubner is an ideal central defender for the Indonesian national team and looks up to Italian football legend, Fabio Cannavaro.

Hubner began his football career at the FC Den Bosch Youth Academy in the Netherlands in 2017. His exceptional performances caught the eye of English Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) in 2018.

At Wolves, Hubner started in the U-18 category and was promoted to the U-21 team in 2022, also serving as team captain during that time. He played nine matches and scored three goals for the Wolves U-21 team.

In early 2024, Hubner was officially registered as a first-team player for Wolves and listed on the Premier League website.

Hubner's journey with the Indonesian national team began when coach Shin Tae-yong called him up for a friendly match against Libya. Despite a less-than-ideal debut, Hubner has become an invaluable player for the Indonesian national team.

FIFA Announces Closed-Door Match

FIFA announced that the Paris 2024 Olympic playoff match would be held behind closed doors due to security reasons.

"FIFA+ will broadcast live the closed-door match between Indonesia and Guinea on May 9," FIFA said in a statement quoted from FIFA's official website in Jakarta, on Saturday.

The Indonesia-Guinea match will take place at Clairefontaine, the French national football center. The two countries will compete for one remaining spot to participate in the quadrennial event. Currently, 15 out of 16 teams that will take part in the men's Olympic football tournament have been decided.

The match is the last chance for the Young Garuda to repeat history and qualify for the Olympics, after previously participating in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

The squad led by coach Shin Tae-yong missed out on an automatic spot in the Olympics after losing to Iraq 1-2 in the third-place playoff of the 2024 AFC U-23 Championship at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha, Qatar, on Thursday.

Guinea, representing the African continent, finished fourth in the 2023 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations. In the senior category, according to the FIFA rankings released in April, Guinea is ranked 76th with 1,324.65 points, while Indonesia is ranked 134th with 1,102.7 points.

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