After losing twice to coach Kim Sang Sik, Indonesia made an unprecedented move.

(Dan Tri) - The Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI) has decided to postpone the country's national championship with the determination to take revenge on Vietnamese football at the SEA Games.

In the past 9 months, Indonesian teams have lost twice to Vietnamese teams in the 2024 AFF Cup (national team) and the U23 Southeast Asian tournament (U23 level). That makes PSSI want to take revenge on Vietnamese football at the SEA Games held in December.

U23 Indonesia determined to take revenge on U23 Vietnam at SEA Games (Photo: Kompas).

Yesterday, PSSI decided to postpone the national championship of this country while the U23 Indonesia team competes in the SEA Games. That shows that they are very determined to take revenge on U23 Vietnam to win the gold medal of this tournament. Remember, U23 Indonesia is the current champion of men's football at the SEA Games.

This is the first time PSSI has made such a move. They have never postponed a national championship to serve a tournament that is not part of FIFA Days (national team gatherings according to FIFA's calendar).

Previously, PSSI had a plan to prepare for the SEA Games, but after witnessing the Indonesian U23 team lose to the Vietnamese U23 team at home in the final match of the recent Southeast Asian U23 tournament, the Indonesian football authority has just made a specific announcement.

PSSI decided to postpone the national championship to serve U23 Indonesia in the SEA Games (Photo: Getty).

CNN Indonesia confirmed that the U23 Indonesia team will have a different look at the SEA Games. The young team of the archipelago country still has many naturalized players and many stars of the age group allowed to participate in the SEA Games.

Notable among these are Justin Hubner (22 years old), Rafael Struick (22 years old), and Marselino Ferdinan (21 years old). These are all players currently playing for the Indonesian national team. They did not participate in the recent 2025 Southeast Asian U23 tournament.

The 33rd SEA Games men's football competition has 11 participating teams, divided into 3 groups, each team using the U22 squad. The seeded group includes Thailand (host), Indonesia and Vietnam. Group 2 includes Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia. Group 3 includes Timor Leste, Philippines, Laos, and Group 4 includes Singapore and Brunei. The teams compete in a round-robin format, selecting the 3 group winners and 1 second-place team with the best record to enter the semi-finals.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/sau-2-lan-thua-hlv-kim-sang-sik-indonesia-co-dong-thai-chua-tung-co-20250805090601623.htm