Indonesia U-20 vs Iran, Tough Obstacles in the First Match of the 2025 U-20 Asian Cup

Indonesia's struggle to qualify for the U-20 World Cup will begin at the 2025 U-20 Asian Cup. In order to achieve the dream of advancing to the final round of the U-20 World Cup, the "Young Garuda" team must be able to reach the semifinals of the U-20 Asian Cup. This is because only the semifinalist teams of the U-20 Asian Cup are entitled to automatically qualify for the U-20 World Cup.

In the group stage of the 2025 U-20 Asian Cup, the young Indonesian national team is grouped in Group C along with Uzbekistan, as well as two Middle Eastern teams, Iran and Yemen. Indonesia's first match will be against the Iran U-20 national team on Thursday (13/2/2025). After facing Iran, Indonesia U-20 will meet Uzbekistan on Sunday (16/2/2025) and compete against Yemen on Wednesday (19/2/2025).

The quality of the Iranian players was evident during the U-20 Asian Cup qualifiers. In the qualification round, Iran was grouped in Group G along with India, Laos, and Mongolia. From the three Group G qualification matches, Iran emerged as the group champion. Emaeil Gholizadeh and his teammates achieved a perfect result by recording three wins without any losses. Iran also managed to score 17 goals without conceding a single one.

In the match against Laos (25/9/2024), Iran achieved a significant victory with a score of 8-0. The goals for Iran were scored by their key players, including Amirmohammad Razzaghinia (Gol Gohar FC), Esmaeil Gholizadeh (Sepahan FC U-21), Kasra Taheri (FC Rubin Kazan), Yaghoob Barajeh (Persepolis FC), and Abbas Kahrizi (Paykan FC U-21).

A similar victory was also achieved by Iran against Mongolia (29/9/2024). Iran managed to defeat Mongolia with a score of 8-0. The goal scorers for Iran included Esmaeil Gholizadeh, Yousef Mazrae (Foolad FC U-21), Kasra Taheri, Yaghoub Barajeh, Abbas Kahrizi, and Abolfazi Moredi (Foolad FC U-20).

In the match against India (27/9/2024), Iran defeated India with a score of 1-0. The only goal for Iran was scored by left winger Yousef Mazraeh. Most of these players were brought by coach Hossein Abdi to the final round of the U-20 Asian Cup 2025 in China. However, one key player, forward Kasra Taheri, did not participate due to injury.

In addition to convincingly passing the qualification round, Iran also carries the experience of advancing to the quarter-finals in the previous tournament. In the 2023 U-20 Asian Cup, Iran successfully reached the quarter-finals. However, Iran failed to advance to the semi-finals after being defeated by Iraq with a score of 1-0 in the quarter-finals.

Several players from Iran U-20 are currently also players who strengthened the Iran U-17 national team in the 2023 U-17 World Cup. Names such as Esmaeil Gholizadeh, Yaghoub Barajeh, and Amirmohammad Razzaghinia were players who helped Iran advance to the round of 16 in the 2023 U-17 World Cup.

Iran also has a track record of achievement in the U-20 Asian Cup championship by entering the semifinals nine times, with five of them successfully entering the final round. Of the five final matches played, Iran managed to win four matches and become champions. The last time Iran became champions was in the 1976 championship. While the last time Iran entered the semifinals was in the 2016 championship.

Looking at the team strength map, Iran will be a tough opponent for Indonesia. The Transfermarkt page shows the market value of the Iranian U-20 national team reaching IDR 38.67 billion with the most expensive players being striker Reza Ghandipour and midfielder Amirmohammad Razzaghinia. The market value of these Iranian U-20 players is higher than the Indonesian U-20 national team, which is IDR 16.69 billion.

In addition to Iran, Indonesia will also face another tough opponent, namely Uzbekistan. In the 2023 U-20 Asian Cup, Uzbekistan was the champion team after appearing convincingly as the host team. At that time, Uzbekistan was able to defeat top teams such as Australia, South Korea, and Iraq.

Uzbekistan's strength must be watched out for by Indonesia. In this year's U-20 Asian Cup, Uzbekistan, along with Iraq and Japan, are the top teams. With its status as defending champion, Uzbekistan is certainly the main team that must receive special attention for Indonesia in the group stage. Moreover, the market value of the U-20 Uzbekistan players is higher than Iran and Indonesia.

Although Uzbekistan holds the status of champion, Indonesia still has the opportunity to steal points when facing Uzbekistan. In the group stage in 2023, Indonesia was able to hold Uzbekistan to a 0-0 draw. At that time, Indonesia was the only country that was able to hold Uzbekistan to a draw in the group stage.

In addition to Uzbekistan and Iran, Indonesia will also face Yemen. In the qualifying round in September 2024, Indonesia faced Yemen at the Madya Stadium, Jakarta. At that time, Yemen managed to hold Indonesia to a 1-1 draw in front of the "Garuda Muda" supporters.

Amidst the formidable strength of the opponents that Indonesia will face in the group stage, young Indonesian players have a positive record when defeating Middle Eastern teams.

In the 2023 U-20 Asian Cup, Indonesia was able to beat Syria with a score of 1-0. In 2018, the “Garuda Muda” team was also able to win over the United Arab Emirates with the same score. This means that in terms of quality and mentality, the Indonesian junior team has a competitive record when facing Middle Eastern teams.

Although the U-20 national team is now filled with players from a different generation than before, the players have been formed mentally and tactically. This can be seen from several competitions that the U-20 national team has participated in. In 2024, for example, the U-20 national team participated in the Seoul Earth on Us exhibition tournament in South Korea.

In this mini tournament participated by four countries, the Indonesian U-20 national team was able to provide a surprise by defeating Argentina U-20 with a score of 2-1. This match was able to increase morale and provide valuable experience for the players of the “Garuda Muda” team.

Ahead of entering the field in the final round of the U-20 Asian Cup in China, the Indonesian junior team also honed their skills in the Mandiri U-20 Challenge Series 2025. Similar to Seoul Earth on Us in South Korea, the Mandiri U-20 Challenge Series 2025 was also attended by four teams. In addition to Indonesia, this mini tournament was attended by Jordan, Syria, and India.

The young Indonesian team suffered two defeats and won one when facing India. However, the mini tournament was an event used by the players to hone their strategies and see their weaknesses before appearing in the final round of the U-20 Asian Cup. The results of this tournament can be used as capital to improve the gaps in the weaknesses of the Indonesian U-20 team.

Most of the Indonesian U-20 players are also alumni of the U-17 national team who had a taste of the competitive 2023 U-17 World Cup. Players such as goalkeeper Ikram Algiffari, Sulthan Zaky, Achmad Zidan, Rizdjar Nurviat, Iqbal Gwijangge, Welber Jardim, Auli Rahman, and Jehan Pahlevi were part of the Indonesian U-17 national team last year. The progress of the 2023 Indonesian U-17 players at that time stopped in the group stage.

It is undeniable that the U-20 Asian Cup competition map is a continuation of the 2023 U-17 World Cup. Both the Indonesian, Iranian, and Uzbekistan national teams were strengthened by their best players who were sent to the 2023 U-17 World Cup. At that time, the Iranian U-17 national team managed to qualify for the round of 16 and the Uzbekistan U-17 national team advanced to the quarter-finals.

However, the U-20 Asian Cup is an opening path for the "Garuda Muda" team to appear on the football stage at a higher level. If we look at the 2023 U-17 World Cup and the last three matches in the 2025 Mandiri U-20 Challenge Series, physicality, concentration, and fighting spirit are the keys that need to be improved in the game of the young Indonesian national team.

Collective play with minimal errors is also a note to be displayed in the tactics that have been designed by the coach in facing top teams such as Iran and Uzbekistan. (LITBANG KOMPAS)