The Perfect End of the Early Struggle of “Young Garuda”

JEDDAH, FRIDAY — The Indonesian U-17 team concluded the Group C competition of the 2025 U-17 Asian Cup with a flawless record. Defeating Afghanistan 2-0 on Friday (11/4/2025) early morning Western Indonesia Time (WIB) at Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, marked a new milestone in Indonesia's journey in official Asian tournaments.

Indonesia had to wait 55 years to witness another squad perform flawlessly in the group stage of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) tournament. The record achieved by Nova Arianto's protégés is on par with the accomplishments of Indonesia's U-20 team, coached by Djamiat Dalhar, during the 1970 U-20 Asian Cup in Manila, Philippines.

However, Evandra Florasta and his team are the first Indonesian team to conclude the group stage of the Asian tournament with a collection of nine points. This is because, in the 1970 AFC U-20 Asian Cup, the AFC still applied a two-point system for a win.

To further align with the achievements of Djamiat's team, Nova Arianto and his protégés must maintain consistency in the knockout stage. Fifty-five years ago, Indonesia advanced to the final round. The championship title slipped away after a 0-3 defeat to Burma (Myanmar).

Indonesia's third positive result in Group C of the 2025 Saudi Arabia tournament had to wait until the final moments of the match, precisely in the 90+4th minute. Fadly Alberto delivered a precise shot in a one-on-one situation with Afghanistan's goalkeeper, Hamid Amiri.

94 seconds later, Zahaby Gholy secured the two-goal lead for "Garuda Muda" with a tap-in in front of the opponent's goal as the match entered the 90+6 minute. The two goals were initiated by an assist from Aldiansyah Taher, who was making his debut in the 2025 AFC U-17 Asian Cup.

Unquestionably, Indonesia established itself as the second team in the group stage of the 2025 AFC U-17 Asian Cup to secure a perfect record in the preliminary round. On Wednesday evening (9/4/2025), Uzbekistan was the first to achieve nine points after defeating the host team, Saudi Arabia, 3-0.

"We took advantage of the opponent's declining condition at the end of the second half. We ran counters and made the most of the opponent's situation to score," Gholy told AFC Media.

Indonesia was accompanied by South Korea as the ambassador of Group C to the quarter-finals. South Korea defeated Yemen 1-0 in the deciding match for second place in Group C at the same time at the Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium, Jeddah.

South Korea's only goal was scored by my midfielder, Kim Eun-seong, when the match entered the 29th minute. Yemen's efforts to score an equalizer with 13 shots, four of which were on target, failed to overcome South Korea's defense.

Meanwhile, Indonesia will still wait for the final match of Group D to find out the opponent in the quarter-final match, Monday (14/4/2025) at 21.00 WIB in Jeddah. Four teams in Group D still have a chance to advance to the knockout phase.

The winner of the duel between Oman and North Korea and Iran and Tajikistan, Saturday (12/4/2025) at 00.15 WIB, will ensure their progress to the last eight and the 2025 U-17 World Cup. North Korea sits at the top of the standings with four points from two games. Tajikistan and Oman trail with three points, while Iran sits in last place with only one point.

Meanwhile, Group B ended dramatically. Two Southeast Asian representatives, Australia and Vietnam, failed to qualify.

Japan and the United Arab Emirates advanced to the knockout stages and the 2025 U-17 World Cup thanks to a mini-head-to-head ranking simulation with Australia. The three teams have four points from three games.

PSSI Chairman Erick Thohir welcomed Garuda Muda's ability to sweep three games in Group C. He was also grateful that Indonesia was the only ASEAN team that would appear in the 2025 U-17 Asian Cup.

"The competition in the last eight will be tougher. We will prepare the team to improve the mentality of competing and teamwork so that the performance of all players will be better," said Erick in a media statement.

Nova made a massive rotation in the match against Afghanistan which did not affect Indonesia. Seven changes to the starting 11 were made from the previous two games.

Only four players have consistently played from the start in the three matches in Group C. They are Dafa Al Gasemi (goalkeeper), Putu Panji (center back), Daniel Alfredo (wing back), and Nazriel Alfaro (center midfielder).

Nova fielded two backup center backs as main players, namely Ida Bagus Cahya and Putu Ekayana. The presence of both of them formed a trio of center backs from Bali United for Garuda Muda.

The players who played in the previous two matches in the second half, namely Fandi Ahmad, Ilham Romadhona, Rafi Rasyiq and Josh Holong, got the opportunity to play from the start of the match.

The big change affected Indonesia's performance. Primarily, the quality of the attack was not good enough due to the poor final pass shown by Indonesian players.

In the first half, Indonesia only recorded four shots, none of which made Afghanistan goalkeeper Hamid Amiri make a save. On the other hand, Afghanistan created 12 shots in Indonesia's defense zone. Dafa made three catches to secure his goal.

Despite Afghanistan's more chances, Indonesia also played almost similarly to the previous two games. Garuda Muda continued to prioritize a reactive appearance by relying on counterattacks. In the first half, Indonesia only recorded 45 percent possession.

In the second half, Nova immediately brought in three players. They were Fadly, Aldiansyah, and Evandra. The three of them brought Indonesia's attack to life.

On the other hand, the changes at the beginning of the second half showed the 4-4-2 formation that Nova had deployed. During the final 45 minutes of the game against Afghanistan, it was the first opportunity for Garuda Muda to appear with that formation.

Physical superiority was once again Indonesia's capital to conquer three opponents in Group C. Two goals in the second half's extra time were two shots on target created by Indonesia.

Before the two goals, Indonesian players made 10 shots that were not on target for Afghanistan. Even so, Indonesia had one golden opportunity through Fadly's movement in the 75th minute.

Receiving a through ball from Gholy, Fadly made a lob that went over Amiri's head. However, the ball was cleared out of the field by Afghanistan center back Nazir Niazi.

In addition, the change of players in the second half also caused Garuda Muda to appear more superior in ball possession. Aggressive appearance with a high defensive line helped Indonesia improve its ball possession record by recording 52 percent ball possession.

In the previous two matches, Indonesia only managed 32 percent possession when defeating South Korea. Then, Indonesia recorded 44 percent possession when defeating Yemen.