President of the Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI) Erick Thohir admitted that he was not too disappointed with the 0-1 defeat of U23 Indonesia against U23 Vietnam in the final of the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship that recently took place at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium (Jakarta).
Mr. Erick Thohir affirmed that he still highly appreciated the efforts of coach Gerald Vanenburg and his team and asked the players to quickly return to the club and maintain their physical strength to prepare for the 2026 U23 Asian qualifiers in September. According to him, the current squad has an average age of only 20.4, so they have the potential to participate in many other international tournaments such as the SEA Games, AFF Cup or AFC Cup.
"The defeat against Vietnam is not too worrying. They are a very strong team, winning the championship three times in a row. Before that, we also lost to them five times in a row, if we win this match, it will be the first time in six confrontations" - he shared.
Football Federation President, Erick Thohir is not disappointed with the failure of U23 Indonesia.
Ignoring this failure, Erick Thohir also emphasized that PSSI is building a long-term foundation for the teams, from U17, U20, U23 to the national team.
The Indonesian U17 team has won a ticket to the World Cup, they have also called up at least 9 naturalized players to increase their strength right from this young generation.
"We should not only look at the results of one tournament. Creating a generation of young players capable of competing in many important fronts is the most important thing," he emphasized, calling on the players to maintain their form at the club before returning to training in September.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/ong-erick-thohir-u23-viet-nam-rat-manh-vo-dich-3-lan-lien-tiep-chung-ta-thua-ho-5-lan-lien-196250803112515269.htm
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