Failed in U-20 Asian Cup, PSSI Must Improve Coaching

SHENZHEN, WEDNESDAY – The performance of the Indonesian U-20 team in the 2025 U-20 Asian Cup once again proves that long training camps abroad do not guarantee an increase in the quality of player performance in international tournaments. Structured early age development must be initiated by PSSI in order to produce a new generation of national players who can compete at the international level.

Indonesia failed to bring home victory from the 2025 U-20 Asian Cup in China. In three matches, the “Garuda Muda” squad only won one point thanks to a 0-0 draw against Yemen, Wednesday (2/19/2025) night, at the Shenzhen Youth Football Training Center Stadium, China.

The result put Indonesia in third place in Group C. Dony Tri Pamungkas and his friends were only ahead in goal productivity over Yemen, who also only earned one point from three games.

Meanwhile, Iran secured the top position in Group C after defeating Uzbekistan 2-1. Iran collected nine points. Meanwhile, Uzbekistan, the defending champion of the U-20 Asian Cup, collected six points.

Overall, Indonesia's performance was very disappointing. Indra Sjafri's team failed to meet the target of qualifying for the 2025 U-20 World Cup in Chile.

"I represent the team and I personally as a trusted coach apologize to all Indonesian people for not being able to fulfill the desire to qualify for the World Cup (U-20)," said Indonesian U-20 Team Coach Indra Sjafri after the match.

Indra also thanked PSSI for their support in supporting his roadmap and plan to build the U-20 team since December 2023. Of the three targets given to him, Indra said he could fulfill two of them, namely winning the 2024 AFF U-19 Cup and qualifying for the main round of the 2025 U-20 Asian Cup. Only failing to qualify for the 2025 U-20 World Cup was not fulfilled.

"For evaluation, for example changing coaches, I leave it entirely to PSSI. This is a state task, I am ready to take responsibility for all the consequences," he said.

In order to qualify for the U-20 World Cup, Indonesia must at least make it to the semifinals. Instead of making it to the knockout round, Garuda Muda's achievement was very tragic because they were eliminated after completing the second game.

The performance of the Indonesian U-20 team once again confirms that the instant way to form a national squad through training camps abroad is not successful. In the 1990s, long training camps in several European countries were also unable to bring Indonesia to perform well in continental tournaments, such as the Asian Cup.

Since almost a year before appearing in China, Garuda Muda has traveled the world to Europe and Asia to form a strong team. Getting the opportunity to train at the Como primavera team facility in Italy, undergoing a trial match at the Toulon Tournament in France, participating in a tournament in South Korea, and training in Japan are a series of preparation periods initiated by PSSI for Garuda Muda.

However, the results were far from expectations. Indonesia was powerless against Iran and Uzbekistan because they conceded three goals. Then, Indonesia again failed to beat Yemen. Indra had led his team to hold Yemen to a 1-1 draw in the 2025 U-20 Asian Cup qualifying round, September 2024, at the Gelora Bung Karno Madya Stadium, Jakarta.

The result against Yemen also showed no significant development from Garuda Muda in the past five months. In fact, Indonesia's performance deserves to be considered worse because they failed to score a goal.

In addition, Indonesia's chance creation was also inferior to Yemen. Garuda Muda only produced nine shots. Meanwhile, Yemen was able to create 28 shots.

Dede Sulaeman, a former national player, stated that the failure of the U-20 team in the 2025 U-20 Asian Cup should be an evaluation for PSSI General Chairman Erick Thohir and the PSSI ranks to focus more on coaching domestically.

"Three things that must be fixed so that we can compete in Asia, namely competitions at every age level, youth development, and team formation that is tiered at every age level. From the three games in China, I saw our players making basic mistakes, such as passing and game organization, especially when guarding and anticipating crosses," said Dede.

Dede added, "I don't see any improvement in the team's game in the three matches. Mistakes in anticipating crosses are still repeated. This should be understood by the coach and his assistants."

Indra made five changes compared to the match against Uzbekistan. The goalkeeper position that was guarded by Ikram Algiffari in the two games was filled by Fitrah Maulana. Mufli Hidayat and Sulthan Zaky, the defender duo from PSM Makassar, appeared from the first minute.

Then, Welberlieskott de Halim Jardim and Arlyansyah Abdulmanan returned to be the main players like in the first game. Welber duetted in the midfield with Toni Firmansyah and Arlyansyah collaborated with captain, Dony Tri Pamungkas on the left side.

The change in the starting lineup did not change Indonesia's game much. Toni and Welber did not contribute much to distributing progressive passes in the heart of Yemen's defense.

Indonesia's attack also pivoted to two wing attackers, namely Arlyansyah and Marselinus Ama Ola who were on the right side. Defenders, such as Kadek Arel and Fava Sheva, more often released long cross passes to both wings.

The condition was not effective enough to threaten Yemen's goal. Indonesia only produced one shot on target from four attempts in the first half.

On the other hand, Indonesia's defense was very fragile. The center-back trio, reinforced by Zaky, Fava, and Kadek, had difficulty suppressing the positive transition carried out by Yemen.

As a result, Yemen was able to release 10 shots with three shots on target which made Fitrah make a save in the first half. Yemen's poor finishing helped Garuda Muda not to concede.

Yemen's attacking midfielder, Adel Abbas Qasem, was the player who most threatened the Indonesian defense. Speed and slick ball control with his left foot were Adel's mainstays in breaking down the Indonesian defense. He recorded two shots on target from four shots produced before halftime.

In order to change the result in the second half, Indra made three substitutions before the kick-off. Ridjar Nurviat, Evandra Florasta, and Aulia Rahman were brought in to replace Mufli, Welber, and Jens Raven. However, the tactical changes did not produce results.

Overall, Marselinus was the most active player threatening the Yemeni goal guarded by Osamah Mokref. In the second half, the player who had a career in Spain with UD Logrones B created two shots on target for the Yemeni goal. No other Garuda Muda player was able to get a shot in the final third of the Yemeni defense in the second half of the match.