Indonesia brings team that defeated Vietnam twice to compete in U23 Asia

On the afternoon of April 1, the Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI) announced the list of 28 players preparing for the 2024 AFC U23 Championship. This list includes 14 names that have just appeared in the list of players participating in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, facing the Vietnamese team.

Notably, naturalized European players such as Rafael Struick (Ado den Haag), Justin Hubner (Cerezo Osaka), Nathan Tjoe-A-On (Hereenveen) are all present. They will combine with key players with extensive experience playing for the national team such as Witan Sulaeman, Marselino Ferdinan, Rizky Ridho,... to form one of the strongest U23 teams of the archipelago team.

List of U23 Indonesia players attending the Asian Cup finals.

In addition, Pratama Arhan, a star known for his strong throw-in ability, has also recovered from his illness. He was allowed by his home club Suwon (Korea) to return to the U23 Asian Cup finals with his home team.

If he wants, coach Shin Tae-yong can arrange a squad consisting mostly of members from the national team. He just needs to find a few more names to fill the positions in the back line. The U23 Indonesia team will have about 10 days of training before the AFC U23 Championship officially kicks off on April 15.

In fact, the current Indonesian national team has a young squad, mostly U23. In the first leg against the Vietnamese team on June 21, the average age of the team was 21.5. This number was 22.5 in the second leg. That is why the Indonesian U23 players have extensive international experience.

Coach Shin Tae-yong and his team are in Group A with hosts Qatar, Australia and Jordan. In the opening match on April 15, U23 Indonesia will face Qatar, followed by Australia and Jordan.

With the current squad, U23 Indonesia is considered capable of competing with the top opponents in Group A. At the U23 Asian Cup, the three best-placed teams (champion, runner-up and third place) will qualify for the Paris Olympics. The fourth-placed team will play an intercontinental play-off with U23 Guinea to determine the final ticket holder.

Minh Tu

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/indonesia-mang-doi-hinh-2-lan-danh-bai-tuyen-viet-nam-du-u23-chau-a-ar862251.html