Southeast Asian football has a bright chance of having a team participating in the U.17 World Cup

Impressive debut of Southeast Asian teams

Southeast Asian football has 3 representatives participating in the U.17 Asian tournament, including Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand. Of these, U.17 Vietnam and U.17 Thailand are in the toughest group, while U.17 Indonesia is in the more suitable group to think about a ticket to pass the group stage (which means a ticket to the U.17 World Cup 2025).

U.17 Thailand started the tournament with a heavy 1-4 defeat against U.17 Uzbekistan. It was an easy-to-predict defeat, as Uzbekistan's youth football is always among the "monsters" of Asia. If U.17 Vietnam or U.17 Indonesia stumble against strong teams, those are also expected defeats.

However, at least in the first round, the remaining two representatives of Southeast Asia have reversed all predictions.

U.17 Vietnam flies high

PHOTO: VFF

U.17 Indonesia defended strongly, then launched a sharp penalty in extra time to defeat U.17 Korea. This is Indonesia's second consecutive victory over Korea in the youth arena. Before that, it was in the quarter-finals of the 2024 AFC U.23 Championship (U.23 Indonesia defeated U.23 Korea with a score of 2-0).

In the match on the evening of April 4, U.17 Indonesia conceded the game to their opponents. Coach Nova Arianto's students retreated deep with two defensive layers blocking the goal. However, instead of accepting to become a target for their opponents to "practice shooting", U.17 Indonesia patiently waited for the young Korean player to make a mistake.

The patience of U.17 Indonesia paid off when the Korean U.17 defender handled the ball in the second half's extra time. The determination of U.17 Indonesia was also clearly shown: Evandra Florasta missed a penalty kick, but he rushed in like lightning to cushion the ball to "make up for his mistake".

Facing the defending runner-up, U.17 Indonesia was not afraid. Desire and effort led coach Nova Arianto and his team to victory.

Vietnam U17 also deserves praise for holding Australia U17 to a draw. Despite conceding first in the first half after a dangerous long-range shot by Quinn MacNicol, coach Cristiano Roland's team fought back in the second half to earn a point, thanks to a goal by Hoang Trong Duy Khang in the 50th minute.

Opportunity

The draw with U.17 Australia helps U.17 Vietnam still have the initiative in the competition. If they win against U.17 UAE and get at least 1 point against U.17 Japan, the path to the next round will be clear.

U.17 Vietnam needs tight defense

PHOTO: VFF

In the remaining two matches, U.17 Indonesia will meet teams of equal strength such as U.17 Yemen and U.17 Afghanistan. If they can get 2 to 3 more points, the door to the World Cup will be wide open for the team from the archipelago country.

Southeast Asian football once had a representative attending the U.17 World Cup 2025, that was U.17 Indonesia as the host.

In fact, Indonesia hosted the U.20 World Cup. However, for reasons other than football, Indonesia was stripped of the hosting rights by the International Football Federation (FIFA), and transferred to Argentina. However, FIFA also compensated Indonesia in time, when it returned the hosting rights of the 2023 U.17 World Cup to this country.

In their first time participating in the U.17 World Cup, U.17 Indonesia drew with U.17 Ecuador and U.17 Panama, only losing to U.17 Morocco (the team that later reached the quarterfinals).

Youth football in Southeast Asia has flourished in recent years, with the flags raised by Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. With the good achievements of U.17 Indonesia and U.17 Vietnam, there is hope that Southeast Asia will have 1 to 2 places to the 2025 U.17 World Cup.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/bong-da-dong-nam-a-sang-cua-co-doi-du-u17-world-cup-185250405162444452.htm