What does U22 Indonesia have to challenge Vietnam and Thailand at SEA Games 33?

TPO - The Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI) has mobilized all resources for the U22 Indonesian team to attend the 33rd SEA Games. In the latest training session, the list of Indonesian players is still not complete.

U22 Indonesia is preparing for the 33rd SEA Games with 2 friendly matches with U22 Mali. According to Bola , coach Indra Sjafri has called up 30 players for the decisive training session of U22 Indonesia before the big match. Among them, there are 3 players playing abroad: Ivar Jenner (Jong Utrecht), Mauro Zijlstra (FC Volendam) and Dion Markx (Nijmegen).

Coach Sjafri is not completely satisfied with the current squad. He urged PSSI to continue working to have Marselino Ferdinan, Adrian Wibowo and Tim Geypens join the U22 Indonesia team. The obstacle for PSSI is still convincing foreign clubs to release players when SEA Games 33 is not on FIFA Days.

After 2 friendly matches with U22 Mali, Coach Sjafri will reduce the list of players to 23, leaving for Thailand to attend the 33rd SEA Games. Among the 30 players, there are some brand new faces wearing the U22 Indonesia shirt such as Luke Keet, who is playing in the Greek league, and Reycredo Bukit and Muhammad Mishbah, 2 players who are playing in the Philippine league.

Previously, PSSI President Erick Thohir sent a message to the entire Indonesian football system to focus on the 33rd SEA Games. Indonesian professional football tournaments have been suspended so that the Indonesian U22 team can prepare best for the SEA Games. In addition, PSSI has already talked to clubs to call back players playing abroad.

Mauro Zijlstra, the hope of the U22 Indonesia attack.

The success or failure of U22 Indonesia at SEA Games 33 will depend largely on the quality of the attack. Bola reviews Indonesia's attacking power with the players Rafael Struick, Rahmat Arjuna, Hokky Caraka, Ricky Pratama, Jens Raven and Mauro Zijlstra.

Mauro Zijlstra is expected by the Indonesian media to be the main "explosive" of the home team. Zijlstra is playing for Volendam Club in Eredivisie. Last month, this striker started in Indonesia's loss to Iraq in the 4th round of the 2026 World Cup Asian qualifiers. When not injured, the starting position in the U22 attack is firmly in Zijlstra's hands.

The rest of Indonesia's attack line is made up of the brightest talents in the domestic league. Arjuna, Caraka, Struick, Raven were all pillars of Indonesia in the U23 Southeast Asian tournament earlier this year. Arjuna is expected to have many opportunities to start alongside Zijlstra, followed by Struick.

In October, U22 Indonesia played a friendly match with U23 India, losing one and drawing one. Coach Sjafri sent a message to PSSI that he wanted U22 Indonesia to compete with opponents of a higher level. As a result, U22 Mali, whose football team is ranked 53rd in FIFA, was chosen as a heavyweight test for Indonesia before the 33rd SEA Games.

Ahead of the 33rd Olympics, Coach Sjafri said the focus of the Indonesian coaching staff was to collect data from their opponents. Indonesia already had a lot of video footage of Myanmar, the Philippines and Singapore. For Vietnam and Thailand, Coach Sjafri said he had not yet collected anything.

Coach Sjafri considers U22 Vietnam and U22 Thailand as the main rivals at SEA Games 33. The analysis and evaluation from the Indonesian coaching staff will also focus on the two main rivals for the gold medal in men's football.

Indonesian football has just experienced a shock when the team stopped in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, leading to chaos for the team due to the constant change of coach. Media Indonesia hopes that the performance of U22 Indonesia at SEA Games 33 will be a "sedative" to relieve the anxiety of Indonesian fans.

CNN Indonesia commented that PSSI has done a good job of supporting coach Sjafri in calling up players for U22 Vietnam. If there are no major changes, U22 Indonesia will complete the optimal squad with factors from domestic tournaments and returning from abroad, ready for SEA Games 33.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/u22-indonesia-co-gi-de-thach-thuc-viet-nam-thai-lan-o-sea-games-33-post1796432.tpo