The Indonesian Team May Not Necessarily Qualify For The 2023 U-17 Asian Cup, The PSSI Chairman Already Has Hopes Of Reaching The Top Five
PSSI chairman Mochamad Iriawan with the Indonesia U-16 team under the care of Bima Sakti. (Photo: PSSI Doc)

JAKARTA - PSSI General Chair, Mochamad Iriawan, is quite confident that the Indonesian team can penetrate the top five positions of the U-17 Asian Cup 2023. Of course, with a note if the Garuda Asia squad is able to win tickets to the finals.

"Later there will be the Asian Cup (U-17). We hope that at least I want to be in the top five," Iriawan told reporters at the State Palace, Jakarta, as reported by Antara, Wednesday, August 17.

The man who is familiarly called Iwan Bule realizes that the level of U-17 Asia is not something that can be taken lightly. That's what makes him not too ambitious to target the title.

"Of course, if it's number one, our opponents are extraordinary. If the number five is big, we can target it," said Iwan Bule.

Indonesia, which will be represented by Bima Sakti's U-16 team, must pass the qualifying round first before meeting the expectations of the PSSI Chairman. Indonesia will act as the host of Group B which consists of Malaysia, Palestine, Guam and the United Arab Emirates.

Qualifying matches will be held from October 1 to October 9. Only the group winners and the five best runners-up will qualify for the final round.

"Therefore, we TC (training center -ed) again, both domestically and abroad," said Iwan Bule.

Indonesia's best achievement in the U-17 Asian Cup was to be ranked fourth in the 1990 edition, which at that time was still using the U-16 format.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's last appearance in the 2018 edition only resulted in the quarter-finals before being eliminated by Australia.


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