Indonesian newspaper unexpectedly supports U.23 Vietnam to beat Malaysia, anxiously waiting for home team to continue

U.23 Indonesia is at risk of being eliminated early.

Besides being a decisive factor, if the U23 Vietnam vs. Malaysia match in Group B of the men's football tournament at the 33rd SEA Games on December 11th ends in a draw, it will officially eliminate U23 Indonesia from the competition just before their final Group C match against U23 Myanmar (December 12th).

Báo Indonesia bất ngờ ủng hộ U.23 Việt Nam thắng Malaysia, hồi hộp chờ đội nhà đi tiếp- Ảnh 1. — Will U.23 Vietnam be determined to defeat U.23 Malaysia, helping U.23 Indonesia keep hope alive?

Indonesian media also suggested that neither the Vietnamese nor the Malaysian U23 teams actually wanted to give the Indonesian U23 team, which boasts an extremely impressive squad with many naturalized players of Dutch origin, much to their delight. And they have perfectly valid reasons for this, because the competition for the gold medal in men's football at the SEA Games is always fierce, with every team trying to capitalize on their strengths. If they let it slip away, they'll hand the opportunity to their rivals.

GOAL Indonesia commented: "Not pessimistic, just realistic. The defeat against the Philippines U23 team has put Indonesia U23 in a difficult position. Honestly, Vietnam U23 and Malaysia U23 didn't need to win against each other in the final match of Group B. A draw would have been safer for both teams to advance to the semi-finals together. It's entirely possible that this SEA Games is over for the defending champions; they only have themselves to blame."

Meanwhile, Indonesia U23 coach Indra Sjafri continues to receive heavy criticism from the domestic public, who believe he was overconfident, made inaccurate lineup choices, and reacted slowly to the solid play of the Philippines U23 team, leading to a bitter defeat that could prematurely end their journey to defend their gold medal.

The only glimmer of hope for the Indonesian U23 team currently is if the match between Vietnam and Malaysia ends with a win or loss for either side. In that case, in their final Group C match, the Indonesian youth team would need a resounding victory against Myanmar to secure 3 points and a good goal difference, allowing them to compare with the second-placed teams in Groups A and B, and qualify for the semi-finals as the best-performing second-placed team.

If U23 Malaysia loses, they currently have 3 points and a goal difference of +3, having scored 4 goals. U23 Indonesia (currently 0 points, goal difference -1) needs to win by a score of 4-0 or higher to have any hope. If U23 Vietnam loses, Coach Kim Sang-sik's team currently has 3 points and a goal difference of +1, having scored 2 goals. In Group A, the second-placed team is almost certainly determined to be U23 Timor Leste with 3 points and a goal difference of -3.

These are very close matches, and regardless of whether the Indonesian press believes in a win-lose contest between Vietnam U23 and Malaysia U23, both teams have every right to strategize.

Malaysia U23 coach Nafuzi Zain also hinted: "We play to win. But there's another important thing: if we can't lose… if we avoid defeat, we'll reach the semi-finals."

Earlier, Indonesia U23 coach Indra Sjafri admitted: "We couldn't control the situation and the outcome of the Vietnam U23 vs. Malaysia match. If it ended in a draw, we had to accept the reality."