“This is crazy,” he said. “I tracked the ball after the keeper saved my spot-kick, and it was just luck that it fell to me.”

Florasta, who plays for Bhayangkara FC Youth, admitted that his team had been on the back foot during the match.

“I didn’t think we could beat Korea Republic, although we’ve been focusing on this match for two months,” he said. “It was a very difficult game, but we were able to withstand their attacks and make full use of our penalty.”

The 1990 semi-finalists will almost surely make the knockout stage and reserve their place at the FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2025 with a win against Yemen on Monday.

Head coach Nova Arianto also admitted luck was on Indonesia's side.

“Korea Republic played very well and we were lucky to be awarded the penalty,” he said. “We used our first team today but it was still tough.”

He was, nevertheless, positive about his side’s performance.

“Florasta had a good match today, in fact, all the players did well by giving it their all. I'm happy with the way we played.”

Korea Republic head coach Back Ki-tae, meanwhile, was left to rue the many opportunities squandered by his side in a match they dominated from the start. 

The two-time champions will now have to step up their game on Matchday Two against Afghanistan, who will also be looking for their first win after losing 2-0 to Yemen.