Indonesian newspaper points out 3 weaknesses of the home team, worried about losing to U23 Vietnam

(Dan Tri) - Before the final match of the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship between U23 Indonesia and U23 Vietnam, Bola newspaper expressed concern when pointing out many weaknesses of the team from the archipelago country.

"U23 Indonesia really needs to improve their finishing ability if they want to defeat U23 Vietnam," Bola newspaper emphasized the home team's biggest weakness in the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship, even though coach Gerald Vanenburg's team has won the right to play in the final match with U23 Vietnam, which will take place at Bung Karno Stadium tomorrow night (8:00 p.m. on July 29).

U23 Indonesia is not good at finishing in the final stage (Photo: Bola).

On the way to the final, the U23 Indonesia team was considered to lack "firepower" in front of the opponent's goal when they only won 1-0 against the Philippines, were held to a 0-0 draw by Malaysia in the group stage and drew 1-1 with Thailand in the semi-finals before winning in the penalty shootout.

Notably, U23 Indonesia striker Jens Raven is the top scorer in the tournament with 6 goals, but most of these goals were scored in the match against the weak team Timor Leste.

"I think it's true that our team lacks finishing ability. Jens Raven usually scores easily, but not tonight," coach Gerald Vanenburg said about the finishing problem after the semi-final match with U23 Thailand.

The second weakness of U23 Indonesia is the ability to withstand the opponent's counter-attacks. In the semi-final match against U23 Thailand, the team from the archipelago played a strong offensive game, controlling the ball 71% of the time and having 16 shots on target.

Indonesia U23 player Rahmat Arjuna tries to overcome the tackle of Thailand U23 player in the semi-final match (Photo: Bola).

However, despite only controlling the ball 29%, U23 Thailand was still able to create 25 shots, of which 5 were on target. If they were luckier, U23 Thailand could have scored the opening goal thanks to a very delicate counterattack by Yotsakhor Burapha.

Therefore, Bola newspaper believes that U23 Indonesia needs to improve its ability to counterattack in the final match against U23 Vietnam.

Another issue that has caused concern in the Indonesian newspaper is that midfielder Arkhan Fikri is injured and will likely not be able to participate in the final match.

"The absence of Arkhan Fikri has deeply affected the Indonesian U23 team. Garuda Muda's midfield has become weaker," Bola newspaper expressed.

Besides Arkhan Fikri, there is another equally important name that is also likely to be absent, that is midfielder Toni Firmansyah.

The information was confirmed by the assistant coach of the Indonesian U23 team, Frank Van Kempen. However, he said the medical team still has a few days before the final to update the situation of Arkhan Fikri and Toni Firmansyah.

"For the two players mentioned, I don't think they can play right now. But we still have three days until the final," Frank Van Kempen said a few days ago.

"I hope one of them can come back. I hope Arkhan Fikri can play. Toni Firmansyah doesn't look like he can yet. But I hope Arkhan Fikri can," he added.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/bao-indonesia-chi-ra-3-diem-yeu-cua-doi-nha-lo-thua-u23-viet-nam-20250728081343259.htm