CNN Indonesia
Saturday, 30 Sep 2023 14:28 IWST
The Indonesian National Team’s performance at the Asian Games received praise from the media in neighboring countries. (ANTARA PHOTOS/Hafidz Mubarak A)
Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Performa Indonesian U-24 National Team when appearing in the round of 16 Asian Games 2023 received praise from Vietnamese sports media.
The performance of the team coached by Indra Sjafri was considered brave, even though they were not the favorites. Even the game of Rizky Ridho and his friends is considered the best of the ASEAN team.
“Even though they were underestimated, the Indonesian players still showed a brave performance against the big Asian teams. They held off the Central Asian team until the official end of the match 90 minutes,” wrote The Thao 247.
Indonesia’s progress in the 2023 Asian Games stopped in the round of 16. Against Uzbekistan, Garuda Muda was able to play 0-0 for 90 minutes, but ended up losing 0-2 in extra time.
Apart from Indonesia, other ASEAN teams appearing in the last 16 are Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar. Unfortunately, none of the four ASEAN representatives made it to the last eight.
This is the worst achievement for Southeast Asian representatives at the Asian Games. This is because in the two previous editions, 2014 and 2018, there were always ASEAN representatives who advanced to the semifinals.
Even though in the end they didn’t win a medal because they lost in the match for the bronze medal, ASEAN representatives were still able to reach the semifinals. This is an alarm for ASEAN football.
However, ASEAN football still has a chance to show its quality in the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup. This is because there are four teams that will appear, namely Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.
(abs/has)
