Opponent Of The Philippines, Indra Sjafri: Indonesia U-23 Has A Profit

JAKARTA - The U-23 Indonesian national team coach, Indra Sjafri, revealed that his team had an advantage ahead of the Philippines in the inaugural match of the 2025 SEA Games. This is related to the experience of the squad he handled.

The Indonesian U-23 and Philippine national teams will meet in the inaugural match of Group C of the 2025 SEA Games. The match will take place at the 700th Anniversary Stadium, Tokyo Mai, on Monday, December 8, 2025, at 18.00 WIB.

Ahead of this match, Indra Sjafri said the U-23 Indonesian national team had an advantage because the majority of players had experience against the Philippines in the 2025 AFF U-23 Cup.

"Yes, fortunately we have players who have played against the Philippines yesterday in the U-23 AFF Cup," said Indra Sjafri as quoted by Antara, Monday, December 8, 2025.

In the previous match, on paper, it was seen that the U-23 Indonesian national team was able to dominate the game with 65 percent possession. The Garuda Muda squad also fired 17 shots, with eight of them on target.

From the meeting records, Indra Sjafri has also conducted an evaluation. All these notes and improvements have also been re-implemented in four trial matches on the U-23 Indonesian national team training camp agenda.

"So, that is our discussion on what was the problem at that time. Thank God, we tried to fix it and try to do simulations through trials against India and finally against Mali."

"Alhamdulillah, the progress of this team is very good and I am sure we can produce positive results," said Indra.

Meanwhile, regarding the silver medal target launched by the Government, Indra Sjafri did not want to be burdened.

"I have emphasized to the players to focus because after all, as we planned, I gave the player the burden, which was gradual. What is clear is that we passed the group first."

"Therefore, the match against the Philippines is very decisive for us to be able to move further," said Indra Sjafri.