Thailand Coach Congratulates Indonesia After The Semifinals Match Sentit AFF U-23

Thailand U-23 national team coach, Thawatchai Damrong-Ongtrakul (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Thailand U-23 national team coach Thawatchai Damrong-Ongtrakul, congratulated Indonesia for qualifying for the 2025 ASEAN U-23 Championship (AFF U-23 2025) final after eliminating his team on penalties in the semifinals, Friday, July 25.

"First of all, I would like to congratulate Indonesia on qualifying for the final round. It was a very good match. Both teams played well and played fairly," Thawatchai said at a press conference after the match at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium (SUGBK), Jakarta.

According to him, Thailand actually performed well and was able to create many chances, even though it failed to use it as a goal. "Indeed, there are still some mistakes, but we were able to create many opportunities. Unfortunately, we couldn't use them into goals," he added.

In that match, Thailand took the lead through Yotsakon Burapha's goal in the 60th minute. However, Indonesia equalized through Jens Raven's goal in the 83rd minute. The 1-1 score lasted until the end of normal time and extra time, so the winner had to be determined on penalties.

The penalty shootout was marked by an incident when Thailand's third executor, Songkhramsamut Namphueng, managed to beat Indonesia's goalkeeper, Muhammad Ardiansyah. The referee assessed that Ardiansyah had committed a violation so that the penalty had to be repeated. Even though it was repeated, Songkhramsamut still managed to break into Indonesia's goal.

Regarding the incident, Thawatchai emphasized respect for the match device's decision.

"That's the referee's decision. Everyone has done their job, and we have to accept it," said the former Thai national team player.

With this result, Thailand failed to advance to the final and will compete for third place against the Philippines on Monday (29/7/2025) at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Jakarta.