Coach of U.23 Indonesia: 'I do not speak ill of my students, do not blame and do not follow the team to SEA Games 33'

Coach Gerald Vanenburg did not blame U.23 Indonesia after losing to U.23 Vietnam in the final, because he knew his players tried their best.

U.23 Indonesia coach does not blame his students

U.23 Indonesia could not retain the Southeast Asian championship at home, when they lost to U.23 Vietnam in the final at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium with a score of 0-1. The only goal of midfielder Nguyen Cong Phuong shattered U.23 Indonesia's dream of returning to the throne after 6 years of waiting.

After the match, coach Gerald Vanenburg affirmed that the U.23 Indonesia players could not be blamed, as the whole team tried hard, but the U.23 Vietnam team was the more effective team.

U.23 Indonesia (white shirt) fell in the final against U.23 Vietnam

PHOTO: DONG NGUYEN KHANG

"I think it was a difficult match for U.23 Indonesia. We had chances to score, but then conceded a goal from a set piece. However, I believe that the Indonesian players played their best. They worked hard. I am proud of the players. Yes, we lost, but football has to have wins and losses. Now it is time for U.23 Indonesia to prepare for the next tournament," Mr. Vanenburg affirmed.

When asked if U.23 Indonesia passed the ball too short, slowing down the pace of play, instead of playing long to speed up the game and put pressure, coach Vanenburg agreed, saying that the players should have played faster and more directly.

"That's also what I'm not satisfied with. That's why I made the substitution. The ball needs to be brought forward. Although the U.23 Vietnam players tried, it wasn't easy, because we missed a lot of chances. We also tried to avoid creating opportunities for U.23 Vietnam to organize dangerous counter-attacks," Mr. Vanenburg added.

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U.23 Indonesia tries to stand up

"U.23 Indonesia needs to regain form and play at a higher level. I think the players have tried their best, so I am satisfied with them, and we will return in the next match," coach Gerald Vanenburg told his players.

After 5 matches in the U.23 Southeast Asia tournament, U.23 Indonesia won U.23 Brunei (8-0), U.23 Philippines (1-0), drew U.23 Malaysia (0-0), won U.23 Thailand on penalties in the semi-finals after a 1-1 draw, and lost to U.23 Vietnam in the final. The common point of these difficult matches is that U.23 Indonesia scored very few goals. After the victory over U.23 Brunei, Mr. Vanenburg's students only scored 2 goals in 4 matches.

U.23 Vietnam won thanks to more courage

PHOTO: DONG NGUYEN KHANG

"We still need to find a way to score more goals. We had many chances, but scoring is always difficult. I believe that the plan and performance of U.23 Indonesia was quite good, but in football, you have to score goals. We know that we did not score many goals in the last minutes. That's true. But the players gave their all. I will talk to them directly. I never speak badly of my players. We win together, we lose together. So it would be unfair to blame the players.

As the Southeast Asian U.23 Champion, Vietnam U.23 was awarded a total of 2 billion VND by the VFF.

We need to improve, and I believe this team has enough quality to develop. Regarding the SEA Games, they (Indonesian football officials) said that it was not my job. I was not appointed to lead the U.23 Indonesia team in this tournament. I was assigned to the U.23 Asian qualifiers, so I will try my best to win," Mr. Vanenburg concluded.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hlv-u23-indonesia-toi-khong-noi-xau-hoc-tro-khong-do-loi-va-khong-theo-doi-den-sea-games-33-185250730001257083.htm