Indonesia hastily calls up 3 naturalized foreign players after painful loss to U.23 Vietnam

The Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI) has just announced the 23 players of the U.23 team competing in the Asian qualifiers in early September, including 3 naturalized foreign players, a big change after the loss to the Vietnamese team (0-1) on July 29.

U.23 Indonesia is still in shock after losing to U.23 Vietnam in the Southeast Asian tournament.

According to CNN Indonesia, the fact that the Indonesian U.23 team could not win the 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 Championship because they lost to the Vietnamese U.23 team with a score of 0-1 (by player Nguyen Cong Phuong scoring the only goal in the 37th minute) at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium with more than 35,500 fans supporting them on July 29 has caused the pain to still not subside.

U.23 Indonesia (white shirt) in the loss to U.23 Vietnam at the Southeast Asian tournament on July 29

Photo: Dong Nguyen Khang

Many Indonesian fans have expressed concern that if the home team maintains the same squad as at the recent U.23 Southeast Asian tournament and with an unimpressive playing style, there will be no chance of winning a ticket to the 2026 U.23 Asian Cup finals. Specifically, in the qualifying matches taking place from September 3 to 9 at Gelora Delta Stadium in Sidoarjo.

In the U.23 Asian qualifiers, the U.23 Indonesia team is in Group J with extremely strong opponents such as U.23 Korea, Laos and Macau. The U.23 Vietnam team, after winning the Southeast Asian championship for the third consecutive time, is in Group C with Yemen, Singapore and Bangladesh (playing at home in Viet Tri, Phu Tho from September 3 to 9). The U.23 Thailand and Malaysia teams are in Group F with Lebanon and Mongolia.

The AFC U-23 Championship qualifiers have a total of 11 groups, with each group consisting of 4 teams. Only the top team in each group and the 4 best second-placed teams will qualify for the finals in Saudi Arabia in early 2026 from January 7 to 25, along with the host team (a total of 16 teams).

Indonesia U.23 aims to regain their dignity and qualify for the Asian Cup finals, after losing to Vietnam U.23 at home. This is also the last tournament for Dutch coach Gerald Vanenburg to lead the country's youth team, before giving way to coach Indra Sjafri, who could become the coach of Indonesia U.22 team attending the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand in December.

Therefore, the U.23 Indonesia squad has been significantly supplemented, including 3 naturalized players, notably 1 person transferred from the national team, that is striker Rafael Struick (22 years old).

Rafael Struick has so far played 26 times for the Indonesian national team, scoring 1 goal and has participated in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The other two players are rookie Dion Markx (20 years old) and tall striker Jens Raven (19 years old), who played in the recent U.23 Southeast Asian tournament. These players are all of Dutch origin.

Meanwhile, up to 7 players who played in the U.23 Southeast Asian tournament were eliminated. Coach Gerald Vanenburg only kept prominent names in the U.23 Indonesia team such as Muhammad Ferarri, Kadek Arel, Dony Tri Pamungkas, Kakang Rudianto, Robi Darwis, Arkhan Fikri and Hokky Caraka.

U.23 Indonesia will start the U.23 Asian qualifiers with a match against Laos on September 3, followed by a match against Macau on September 6, and in the final match they will have to fight for survival against a very strong opponent, U.23 Korea on September 9, to compete for the official ticket in the group to the final round.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/indonesia-voi-va-goi-3-ngoai-binh-nhap-tich-vi-tran-thua-dau-u23-viet-nam-185250827125908155.htm