High Optimism Of Indonesian Captain U-20 Ahead Of The U-20 Maldives

JAKARTA - The captain of the U-20 Indonesian national team, Dony Tri Pamungkas, expressed high optimism ahead of facing the U-20 Maldives. He believes Garuda Nusantara can achieve the best results in the inaugural match of the 2025 U-20 Asian Cup Qualification.

The Indonesian U-20 national team will face the Maldives in the first match of Group F of the 2025 U-20 Asian Cup Qualification. The match will be held on Wednesday, September 25, 2024, at 19.30 WIB at the Madya Stadium, Senayan.

Before starting the struggle, the U-20 Indonesian national team had already pocketed qualified capital. Indra Sjafri's team has tested the tournament in South Korea as a test match and won the match against Argentina U-20.

In addition, they have also undergone a long-term training camp (TC), the last agenda being held in Bali. Reflecting on the preparations, Dony Tri Pamungkas is optimistic about the team.

"Preparation is quite good and all the players are in good condition. God willing, tomorrow (against the Maldives) we will give our best," said Dony Tri Pamungkas during the last exercise on Tuesday, September 24, 2024.

"What is certain is that we have to be optimistic for tomorrow's match and all the players give their best. Work hard and God willing, we will get the best results," he said.

The Persija Jakarta player said he had got an idea of the power of the Maldives which he thought had several dangerous players.

"We have evaluated the Maldives earlier. They have several players who are quite dangerous and we have anticipated that," he said.

In the 2025 U-20 Asian Cup qualifiers, Indonesia U-20 without being strengthened by one of its core players, Welber Jardim. However, Dony said losing one player would not affect the team's strength.

"We will play 11 people because he did not come and the coach's decision too. I think it might not be too influential," he said.

Indonesia U-20 is in Group F of the 2025 U-20 Asian Cup Qualification with Yemen, Maldives, and Timor Leste.

After fighting the Maldives in the first match, Indonesia U-20 will face Timor Leste U-20 on Friday, September 27, 2024, then Yemen U-20 on Sunday, September 29, 2024.

Of the 10 groups in the qualifying round, there will be 10 group winners, the five best runners-up, and the Chinese hosts who are entitled to appear in the final round on 6-23 February 2025.