Indonesia U23 coach skips press conference after winning ticket to final with Vietnam

(NLDO) - Having won the right to enter the final of the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship to meet U23 Vietnam, coach Gerald Vanenburg of U23 Indonesia suddenly skipped the press conference for an unbelievable reason.

According to Bola (Indonesia), having to continuously direct in front of the enthusiastic crowd of more than 80,000 at Bung Karno Stadium, coach Gerald Vanenburg was exhausted and lost his voice, so he could not attend the press conference.

Instead, team assistant Frank van Kempen had to answer the press and said: "He was muted because he shouted too loudly to give instructions."

"U23 Indonesia is happy with today's victory. This was a very tense match, we had to change tactics, asking the players to cross the ball a lot even though we had never practiced this method. The important thing is that the whole team won and will rest to prepare for the final match" - assistant Frank van Kempen shared.

Coach Gerald Vanenburg exhausted after the semi-final match with Thailand

In the semi-final, U23 Indonesia let U23 Thailand take the lead, but managed to equalize 1-1 thanks to Riven's goal at the end of the second half.

The match was dragged into two extra periods, the team from the archipelago, despite being outplayed and allowing their opponents to create many dangerous opportunities, still managed to hold on. U23 Indonesia and Thailand had to enter a nerve-wracking penalty shootout that lasted until the 8th round, and won dramatically when the away team missed 2 shots.

U23 Indonesia (red) defeated Thailand in the penalty shootout

Indonesian football experts highly appreciate the national team's victory over Thailand, deserving of praise.

The opponent of host U23 Indonesia in the final is U23 Vietnam, taking place on July 29. Evaluating coach Kim Sang-sik and his team, a member of the home team's coaching staff said: "U23 Vietnam is a very strong team, playing at a high level. Coach Kim Sang-sik always prepares carefully for each match. I will review the semi-final and group stage matches to make further assessments."

Source: https://nld.com.vn/hlv-u23-indonesia-bo-hop-bao-khi-gianh-ve-vao-chung-ket-voi-viet-nam-196250726100251332.htm