U.23 Indonesia tied as if losing to Laos: Coach frustrated, big boss issues urgent directive

Indonesian press evaluated the opening match of the U.23 team against Laos with a score of 0-0 on September 3 as a defeat, coach Gerald Vanenburg blamed the clubs, while the President of PSSI issued an urgent directive.

Indonesian football "rival" Laos team

According to CNN Indonesia, the match where the Indonesian U.23 team was held to a 0-0 draw by the underdog Laos team at Gelora Delta Stadium in Sidoarjo on September 3, in the opening match of Group J of the AFC U.23 Championship qualifiers, was quite similar to the match where the Indonesian national team under coach Shin Tae-yong was held to a 3-3 draw by this opponent at the 2024 AFF Cup.

Indonesia (white shirt) once again could not beat Laos football

Photo: AFC Screenshot

"Perhaps the Indonesian teams have "rivaled" the Laos team. At the AFF Cup 2024, when coach Shin Tae-yong was still leading the Indonesian team, they had to accept a draw against this opponent (3-3) right at home in Surakarta. Because of this terrible draw, the Indonesian team finished the AFF Cup 2024 group stage in 3rd place and was eliminated. Coach Shin Tae-yong was later fired.

Coincidentally, the Indonesian team at that time also had players like Kadek Arel, Rayhan Hannan and Dony Tri Pamungkas, who are now all playing for the U.23 team. They were once again stalemate against the Laos team, also led by Korean coach Ha Hyeok-jun. This poor start has made the Indonesian U.23 team, which had high expectations, very likely to disappoint once again," CNN Indonesia said.

Indonesia U23 has been significantly strengthened to conquer the qualifying round of the U23 Asian Cup when aiming to get a ticket to the final round, after losing to Vietnam U23 team with a score of 0-1 in the final match of the U23 Southeast Asian Cup at home on July 29. They have added up to 4 naturalized players including Matthew Baker, Dion Markx, Jens Raven and Rafael Struick. In which, Rafael Struick was added from the Indonesian team.

Most of these important naturalized players were used by coach Gerald Vanenburg in the opening match of U.23 Indonesia against Laos. However, despite dominating the game and creating a series of opportunities, strikers Toni Firmansyah, Jens Raven, Rafael Struick, Rayhan Hannan and Hokky Caraka all missed and could not overcome the goal of U.23 Laos goalkeeper Kop Lokphathip.

U.23 Indonesia must now win the remaining two matches, including the crucial match against strong opponent U.23 Korea, to have any hope of advancing.

Photo: AFC Screenshot

Coach Gerald Vanenburg of Indonesia U23 was helpless. He said: "The press has talked too much about Jens Raven (the naturalized player who scored 5 goals in the match where Indonesia U23 beat Brunei 8-0 in the Southeast Asian tournament), but then he played many more matches but still did not score any more goals.

We also sent Hokky Caraka on and he was in the same situation. In my opinion, this is reasonable, the reason these players cannot maintain their form is because of the clubs, they rarely get to play in the national championship. If they had been on the field for 40 minutes or more, perhaps this goal drought would not have happened."

Meanwhile, the President of the Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI), Mr. Erick Thohir, issued an urgent directive in a message posted on social network X: "The U.23 Indonesian team played offensively from the start, creating many opportunities, but could not convert them into goals until the end of the match and accepted a 0-0 draw against the Laos team.

There are two more matches against Macau (September 6) and South Korea (September 9). The Indonesian U23 team must come back strong and play their best in these remaining matches to win and qualify for the final round of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship.

CNN Indonesia said that this was almost a firm order from the PSSI President to coach Gerald Vanenburg and the U.23 Indonesia team, they must win the remaining two matches, including the match against the extremely strong Korean team (who opened with a big win over Macau 5-0 to temporarily lead Group J), to regain hope.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/u23-indonesia-hoa-nhu-thua-doi-lao-sep-lon-ra-chi-thi-khan-185250904084348225.htm