Indonesia Beats South Korea, One Win Away to 2025 U-17 World Cup

JEDDAH, FRIDAY - The effective tactical approach implemented by the coach of Indonesia's U-17 team, Nova Arianto, became the key to Indonesia's 1-0 victory over South Korea in the first game of Group C of the 2025 AFC U-17 Asian Cup, Friday evening (4/4/2025), at Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The "Garuda Muda" are now just three points away from the remaining two group stage matches to qualify for the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

This (result) is insane. I did not expect to win against South Korea. However, we had prepared ourselves for this match for two months.

Midfielder Evandra Florasta scored a crucial goal that brought Indonesia closer to achieving its target of qualifying for the world junior tournament in Qatar in November. She scored through a rebound shot from her failed penalty kick in the 90+2 minute.

Two shots created by the player from Bhayangkara Presisi were Indonesia's recorded on-target attempts in that match. Throughout the two halves of the game, Garuda Muda managed to withstand the onslaught of the "Taegeuk Warriors," the nickname for South Korea, who produced 16 shots.

"This result is insane. I did not expect to win against South Korea. However, we had prepared ourselves for this match for two months," said Evandra to AFC Media after the match.

Meanwhile, Indonesia was only able to release four shots through counter-attack schemes. Indonesia's lack of attacks was closely tied to the defensive tactics implemented by Nova, a former central defender of the Indonesian national team in the early 2000s.

Not only did Indonesia line up five defenders in parallel to withstand South Korea's attacks, but the defensive coordination also worked well. Goalkeeper Dafa Al Gasemi led the defensive line effectively.

On several occasions, especially during situations where the ball was in the air, Dafa consistently shouted to his teammates. "Duel, duel," Dafa's shout could be heard throughout the majority of the match's duration.

On the other hand, Nova also carefully arranged the position of his players. He directed his players to never be careless in guarding the movement of South Korean players in the final third of their own defense zone.

Winning over South Korea in the opening game of the 2025 U-17 Asian Cup was Indonesia's third win in seven participations in the most junior Asian inter-country tournament. The positive results were achieved in the three most recent participations of the Garuda Muda in the U-17 Asian Cup, namely the 2010, 2018, and 2025 editions.

In the 2010 edition, Indonesia defeated Tajikistan 4-1 in the second game. Then, Indonesia defeated Iran 1-0 in the first match of the 2018 Malaysia group stage. The results helped Garuda Muda, who was coached by Fakhri Husaini at that time, to advance to the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, Indonesia finally managed to beat South Korea in the U-17 Asian Cup tournament. In the previous three duels, Indonesia achieved one draw and two losses.

Garuda Muda lost 1-7 in 1988 and 0-9 in 2008. Indonesia managed to hold South Korea to a 1-1 draw in the United Emirates in 1990. In that edition 35 years ago, Indonesia made it to the semifinals, which is still Indonesia's best achievement in the U-17 Asian Cup.

With a win against South Korea in the 2025 edition, Indonesia needs at least one more win to secure a top two position in order to advance to the quarter-finals. Advancing to the last eight means Indonesia has qualified for the 2025 U-17 World Cup.

It was a new achievement for Indonesia by qualifying for the U-17 World Cup through the qualification route. Previously, Indonesia appeared in the 2023 U-17 World Cup as the host team quota.

"The victory over South Korea boosted the team's confidence. We are confident we can sweep clean (the remaining two matches in Group C)," said Evandra.

Indonesia implemented a total defensive tactic from the start. Nova implemented an initial 3-4-3 formation that changed to 5-4-1 when not in possession of the ball.

The three center backs are filled by Muhamad Al Gazani, Putu Panji, and Mathew Baker. Fabio Azkairawan and Daniel Afrido occupy the wing back positions.

In the midfield, Garuda Muda relies on the duet of Nasrul Alfaro and Evandra Florasta. Meanwhile, the standard trident of the U-17 team, namely Fadly Alberto, Mierza Fijatullah, and Zahaby Gholy, remains the mainstay in the opening match in Saudi Arabia 2025.

However, Fadly and Gholy were more often standing in line with the two central midfielders rather than moving close to Mierza. This was due to the intense pressure launched by South Korea.

The Taegeuk squad had already threatened Indonesia's goal when the match had only been going on for 50 seconds. South Korean midfielder Oh Ha-ram was the first player to fire a shot at the Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah.

In the first half, South Korea recorded nine shots. Despite pressing with a collection of 65 percent possession, South Korea's shooting accuracy was poor, which benefited Indonesia. They only produced two shots on target that were easily caught by the Indonesian goalkeeper, Dafa.

On the other hand, Garuda Muda only produced one shot in the first half. The shot was produced by Gholy in the ninth minute. The execution of the Persija Jakarta player flew over the South Korean goal crossbar.

Mierza had a golden opportunity in the 14th minute. He escaped South Korea's offside trap and faced South Korea's goalkeeper, Park So-hun, one-on-one. Unfortunately, Mierza hesitated when he was able to dribble the ball into South Korea's penalty box, so the ball was caught by Park before Mierza could shoot.

Despite the good defense, Garuda Muda played poorly in the second ball duel. This condition helped South Korea to quickly recover possession after their attack failed due to a sweep by the Indonesian defender.

In the second half, South Korea's attack quality declined. Of the seven shots they had after the break, they only managed one on target.

Indonesia's attacking power also decreased after Gholy and Mierza were replaced in the second half. This condition made Garuda Muda rely on Fadly's individual actions to provide threats to the South Korean defense.

"We played amazingly, but there is still a lot we need to improve," said Evandra, who has contributed five goals in nine matches with the U-17 team.

Meanwhile, South Korea's center back and captain, Koo Hyeo-bin, admitted that his team's physical condition declined drastically in the second half. This situation caused a decline in their performance.

"We also have to improve communication between players in the match. We have two days to improve ourselves to pursue victory in the second game (against Afghanistan)," Koo told AFC Media.