KANS The U-23 Indonesian national team ended the gold medal fasting at the 2021 SEA Games had to go through a steep road. Because, three competitors for the U-23 Indonesian National Team advanced to the semifinals with good records and good appearances.
The coach of the U-23 Indonesian National Team, Shin Tae-yong, bears a heavy burden at this time’s SEA Games. The South Korean coach was tasked with gaining a gold medal, an achievement that Indonesia had not felt since the 1991 SEA Games in Manila, Philippines.
The U-23 Indonesian national team has just completed the first step of the journey to win the 2021 SEA Games gold medal. The Red and White Team came out as runners-up in Group A with a collection of nine points.
With these results, the U-23 Indonesian National Team has the right to advance to the 2021 SEA Games semifinals. Then what are the chances of the U-23 Indonesian National Team winning a gold medal if judging from the performance of the competitors?
The Indonesian U-23 national team has been waiting for a tough opponent in the semifinals. The Thailand U-23 National Team, which is a regular SEA Games gold winner (14 times) will be the opponent of Egy Maulana Vikri and colleagues in the semifinals.
The Thailand U-23 national team actually started the 2021 SEA Games less convincingly. The Young War Elephant -the nickname of Thailand U-23 – was surprisingly defeated 1-2 by the Malaysian U-23 national team.
However, the Thailand U-23 national team appeared crazy in the next three matches. The Singapore and Cambodia U-23 national teams were burglarized five times each by Alexandre ‘Mano’ Polking’s team.
(Thailand U-23 national team, against Indonesia U-23 national team in the 2021 SEA Games semifinals)
When they won 1-0 against Laos U-23 in the final match of the group phase, Mano Polking rested many pillar players. Key players such as Korawich Tasa, Chonnapat Buaphan and Benjamin James Davies were parked.
Mano Polking himself said that he deliberately rotated players so that his squad was in the best condition in the semifinal against the U-23 Indonesian National Team on Thursday, May 19, 2022 at 16.00 WIB. Therefore, the U-23 Indonesian National Team must be extra vigilant.
Moreover, Thailand has a slick record in the SEA Games event. For your information, Thailand is the team with the most gold medal collectors in the SEA Games soccer sport with a collection of 14 gold medals.
The struggle of the U-23 Indonesian National Team will not end if it succeeds in stepping over the U-23 Thailand National Team. The U-23 Indonesian National Team will face the U-23 Vietnam National Team or the U-23 Malaysia National Team if they advance to the 2021 SEA Games final which will take place on Sunday, May 22, 2022.
(If you qualify for the final, the U-23 Indonesian National Team has the potential to face Vietnam)
Mathematically, the Vietnam U-23 National Team as the host and defending champion is more favored to qualify for the final. However, the Malaysian U-23 National Team should not be taken lightly.
The Malaysia U-23 national team has failed to win in the last two matches. However, the Young Tigers – the nickname of Malaysia U-23 – were the team that managed to overthrow the Thailand U-23 national team in the inaugural match.
The Malaysia U-23 national team has the potential to bring a surprise again at the 2021 SEA Games. Especially if the coach, Brad Maloney applies a total defensive playing style in the semifinal match later.
(Malaysia U-23 National Team can give a surprise at the 2021 SEA Games)
It’s no secret that the Vietnam U-23 national team is weak when it comes to teams that implement bus parking. The Philippines U-23 national team and Myanmar U-23 national team have proven this when they managed to make trouble for Nguyen Tienh Linh and colleagues in the group stage.
So far, the Vietnam U-23 national team is the number one seed at the 2021 SEA Games. Moreover, the team nicknamed the Young Gold Star has the most impressive record compared to its three competitors.
Among the four semifinalists, the Vietnam U-23 National Team is the team with the highest number of points in the group stage. Park Hang-seo’s team collected 10 points, three wins, one draw and have never tasted defeat.
The semifinals will be played on Thursday 19 May 2022. The U-23 Indonesian National Team versus Thailand U-23 will be played at the Thienh Truong Stadium, Nam Dinh, while the U-23 Malaysia match against Vietnam U-23 will be held at the Viet Tri Stadium, Phu Tho.
It is hoped that the best performance will be shown by the U-23 Indonesian National Team in the remaining two matches of the 2021 SEA Games. Because football lovers in the country really miss the presence of the SEA Games gold medal from the football sport.
