Arkhan Fikri's Absence Is One Of Indonesia U-23's Draw Against Malaysia

JAKARTA - The U-23 Indonesian national team closed the final match of the 2025 AFF U-23 Cup Group A phase with a 0-0 draw against Malaysia U-23.

After the match, Gerard Vanenburg as coach of Garuda Muda admitted that he had lost the figure of Arkhan Fikri, which he considered could be a differentiator in this match.

At a meeting at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Jakarta, Monday, July 21, 202, WIB night, the U-23 Indonesian national team actually appeared by controlling the match.

However, the solid defense of Malaysia makes it difficult for Garuda Muda to score goals.

Not surprisingly, Vanenburg said that the absence of Arkhan Fikri due to injury was quite a factor that made it difficult for his team to win.

"I think today's game was difficult. They played tight and defensive. Then today we lost players like Arkhan Fikri. In fact, he was able to play freely between the lines," Vanenburg said after the match, quoted on Tuesday, July 22, 2025.

Arkhan's absence in this match was replaced by Toni Firmansyah who was expected to patch the vacancy. However, the game did not go as well as when Arkhan was on the field.

However, despite the results achieved by the team, Vanenburg still praised Garuda Muda for qualifying for the 2025 AFF U-23 Cup semifinals as winners of Group A.

"Luckily today 0-0. This result deserves credit for the defensive line that performed extraordinary. All teams also played and gave their best," said Vanenburg.

Previously, Arkhan was seen present in the team's final preparations. During the last training session against Malaysia, Arkhan did undergo separate training and used elastic plaster on his left knee.