The Indonesian National Team Lost 0-2 To Iraq, Asnawi Reveals Bad Field Conditions

The right-back of the Indonesian national team, Asnawi Mangkualam Bahar, gave his views regarding the unsatisfactory results of the match against Iraq at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium (SUGBK).

Asnawi was also fielded by Shin Tae-yong as a substitute in the second half. According to him, one of the factors that quite affected the results of the match was poor field conditions.

The player who is now playing at the Thai club, Port FC, even said that previously he had hoped that the field conditions would be better than the last match of the Indonesian national team against Vietnam in March 2024.

"Today's field conditions are not good. Indeed, it has been warned a few weeks earlier that if we play at Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, we hope (field conditions) are much better than the previous match against Vietnam," said Asnawi Mangkualam during a press conference after the match in SUGBK, Jakarta, on Thursday, June 6, 2024, WIB night.

When fighting Vietnam, the condition of SUGBK grass did steal the attention again. The reason is, some time before the match was held, a number of agendas took place outside of football which forced the main grass to be closed.

However, the recovery process was carried out several months before the Indonesian national team returned to appear. However, the grass condition has not yet been collected.

Likewise ahead of the match against Iraq. On May 18, 2024, NCT Dream's concert was held in SUGBK. Recovery was carried out in just over two weeks.

Asnawi did not deny that the grass recovery process and field conditions were deemed not optimal against Iraq. This is considered a factor that affects the movement of players.

"Indeed there are changes (for field conditions), but not much different. Some of the uneven field structures are still there and quite influential for the players," said Asnawi Mangkualam.

The Indonesian national team hosted Iraq in the second round of the 2026 Asian Zone World Cup Qualifiers. In the match which was held on Thursday, June 6, 2024, the hosts lost 0-2 through penalty goals for Ayman Hussein (54') and Ali Jassim (86').