ACL's Injury, Achmad Maulana Ends The Season Faster At Arema And Absent For Indonesia U-23

Achmad Maulana Syarief had to be sidelined for a long time due to an ACL injury, crossed out from the list of Indonesian U-23 players (Instagram/@achmad19m).

JAKARTA - Unpleasant news came from Arema FC player Achmad Maulana Syarief, who had to end the season sooner.

A serious injury in the anterior pursuit league (ACL) forced him to pull over and was forced to miss defending the U-23 Indonesian national team.

The 20-year-old player suffered an injury during the Arema FC match against Bhayangkara FC on Friday, August 22, 2025. The wrong position of fall left his knee seriously injured and had to pull over for the next nine months.

"Not because of a collision, he sprained, from a slow motion his knee bends, sprained by his own body. So, he injured his knee, wrong position. Yes, that's a risk of football," said dr. Nanang Tri Wahyudi, a doctor for the Arema FC team in a statement quoted Thursday, August 28, 2025.

Because of the injury, Achmad Maulana even had to undergo ACL reconstruction surgery. You see, after seeing the results of the MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), there is a tear in the tissue that connects the thigh and knee bones.

"The condition of Achmad Maulana based on MRI and consultation with an orthopedic surgeon, was decided to have surgery. We are still waiting for the schedule for the future. It turns out that the injury is quite serious," said dr. Nanang.

With the operation, Achmad Maulana inevitably had to undergo a recovery process that took quite a long time, namely nine to 12 months. This clearly has an impact on international careers.

His name was crossed out from the list of players from the U-23 Indonesian national team who will appear in the 2026 U-23 Asian Cup Qualification at the Gelora Delta Sidoarjo Stadium on September 3, 2025.

Indonesia U-23 is in Group J with South Korea, Laos, and Macau. Previously, Maulana was predicted to be in Gerald Vanenburg's main squad after performing brilliantly in the AFF U-23 Cup in July 2025.

As a substitute for Maulana, the coach summoned Salim Akbar Tuharea, his teammate at Arema FC, to fill the void in Garuda Muda's midfield.