Indra Sjafri Admits Indonesia U-23 Appears Not In Accordance With The Wishes When Losing To The Philippines

Indra Sjafri emphasized that the U-23 Indonesian national team had not yet played according to the strategy prepared (doc. Indonesian national team).

JAKARTA - The U-23 Indonesian national team coach, Indra Sjafri, opened his voice about the bitter results achieved by his team in the inaugural match of the 2025 SEA Games group phase. Facing the Philippines, he said that the Garuda Muda squad did not appear as desired.

The Indonesian U-23 and Philippine national teams met at the 700 Anniversary Stadium, connecting Mai, Thailand, on Monday, December 8, 202, WIB night. The 0-1 defeat in that match made the chance to qualify for the semifinals thinner.

Regarding last night's match, Indra Sjafri admitted that there were still shortcomings from his team. He also considered that this performance was not what he expected.

"The results are not good for us. We really started the match in the first half, to be honest, not what we expected."

"However, it is very unfortunate that at the end of the first half, there was a throw-in by the Philippines and it caused us to concede," said Indra Sjafri in a statement after the match, quoted on Tuesday, December 9, 2025.

The moment of conceding that occurred through a throw-in during injury time in that match became a separate note for Indra Sjafri. The coach admitted that the moment was different from the performance shown during training.

"It's a shame (to concede from) a throwing ball (in). It means that the players didn't match what they were training on, which players took care of who."

"In the second half, we tried to change the composition of players and formations. We were able to master the game, but there were several opportunities we couldn't make good use of it," he said.

With this defeat, Indonesia U-23 is in second place in Group C with zero points. Ivar Jenner and his friends also have one more match, namely against Myanmar on Friday, December 12, 2025.

In that final match, the U-23 Indonesian national team must win in order to maintain their chances of qualifying for the semifinals. However, Garuda Muda also hopes that the Vietnam versus Malaysia match will not end in a draw.