The story of the Indonesian U22 National Football Team winning the 2023 SEA Games Gold

A portrait of the U22 National Team's victory procession that managed to win the 2023 SEA Games gold in Cambodia in Jakarta. (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The longing for a gold medal in the football sport branch at the SEA Games is unbearable. Many times the Indonesian people hope, but often fail. Everything changed when the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia were held.

U22 National Team coach Indra Sjafri is serious about concocting his players. As a result, Marselino Ferdinan and his friends have a fighting spirit. The group stage was easily swept away. The knockout phase was passed with determination. The culmination, Indonesia entered the final and won against Thailand.

The largest Southeast Asian sports festival, the SEA Games, is awaited. All of Southeast Asia cheered in support of athletes from their respective countries who will compete from May 5-17, 2023.

The people of Indonesia do not want to lose. They are looking at high dreams. First and foremost, they can win gold again in the football branch. The narrative is reasonable. Indonesia can bring home the gold in football for a long time, 32 years or at the 1991 SEA Games.

All of Indonesia hope that coach Indra will be the right person to bring gold to the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia. Indra also brought 20 players from the U22 National Team to Cambodia. Some of them already have big names like Marselino Ferdinand, Beckham Putra, to Witan Sulaiman.

Indonesia is also in the same group as the Philippines, Myanmar, Timor Leste, and Cambodia. However, Indonesia is not afraid. The Red and White team was able to sweep clean with perfect points. Indonesia beat the Philippines 3-0, Myanmar 5-0, East Timor 3-0 and Cambodia 2-1.

The victory brought the national team to meet Vietnam in the semifinals and won 3-2. The peak, Indonesia faced a bitter enemy, Thailand in the final. Thailand is clearly not an easy opponent. Thailand twice destroyed Indonesia's hopes of winning gold in 1997 and 2013.

Indonesia does not want to lose again. Marselino and his friends want to prove that they can win gold at the National Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on May 16, 2023. As a result, Indonesia was able to beat Thailand with a final score of 5-2.

Indonesia finally brought home the gold. Happiness and pride are united. Many consider that the U22 National Team played well and not infrequently also confirmed the U22 National Team SEA Games 2023 as one of the best squads Indonesia has ever had.

"Make this the momentum for the revival of Indonesian football. It's been 32 years, now we've proven that Indonesia can!" said Indra Sjafrie as quoted by the Metrotvnews website, May 16, 2023.

The victory of the Indonesian U22 National Team in the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia was greeted with a warm welcome from all Indonesian people. The long wait was finally paid off. This condition made the supporters to welcome the U22 National Team personnel and officials.

Instead of just waiting for the procession, many actually came to Terminal 3 of Soekarno-Hatta Airport on May 18, 2023. The supporters can't wait to celebrate the victory together. As a result, when the national team players started to leave the airport, yel-yel and singing were sung.

They did not forget to shout the name of the national team personnel who had been given flowers, a sign of welcome. All national team personnel immediately continued their journey to Gelora Bung Karno (GBK).

A point where the parade of champions starts from GBK to HI Circle with an open-top bus. The parade was greeted with cheers. Instead of just football fans, those who are not fans also came down to party to see their national team win.

The streets of Jakarta, which were passed by the national team entourage, were like a sea of people. The sound of singing, yel, to loud screams could be heard. The celebration brought a commotion everywhere. The action was viral and was discussed throughout Indonesia.

However, the comments received were not only positive. There were also those who criticized. Those who criticized considered football to be too much of a golden child. They felt sorry for other sports that did not get a place like football. There are also those who reveal that Indonesia's level is still in the Southeast Asian region, not Asia.

The Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) also spoke up. They consider the celebration to be reasonable. It's all because the SEA Games gold has been awaited for 32 years.

"The meaning and purpose of this procession is to honor all players and officials of the team because they have won the gold medal at the 2023 SEA Games. This is a gold medal that has been waiting for a long time, namely 32 years. After the last time we won it at the 1991 Manila SEA Games, Philippines," said PSSI executive member (Exco), Arya Sinulingga as quoted by lamandetik.com, May 18, 2023.