Ahead of Indonesia Vs Timor Leste U-23 National Team Match, Asnawi Gives Message To His Colleagues: We Can't Underestimate Our Opponents

Asnawi Mangkualam (Instagram.com/@asnawi_bhr)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian national team will play the second match in the Group A phase of the SEA Games Vietnam 2021. In Tuesday night's match, Asnawi Mangkualam is confirmed to be absent because he has not recovered from an injury.

Asnawi suffered an injury while strengthening Ansan Greeners in the K2 League continued match last week. In the match against Anyang, Saturday, May 7, Asnawi fell with an unnaturally bent leg.

When the incident occurred, coach Choi Min-kook decided to withdraw the young Indonesian player. After that, Asnawi is known to have left to strengthen the Indonesian national team at the SEA Games. However, the situation is not possible.

Because of that, Asnawi is certain to not be able to play when the Indonesian national team meets Timor Leste in a few moments. Even so, he targets his condition to recover so that he can appear in the third match of the U-23 National Team at the SEA Games.

"Alhamdulillah's condition is getting better. There may be a slight lump in the ankle and it's still recovering. I hope to be able to recover and play as soon as possible. But the hope is to play the next match", said Asnawi, quoted from the PSSI page.

This situation inevitably made Asnawi have to be patient because he could not join his colleagues in the field. But, on the other hand, Asnawi still encouraged and did not forget to give a message to the team not to underestimate the opponent.

"We can't take our opponents lightly. The important thing is that all players are focused, can concentrate on being able to win the match because the opponent of Timor Leste is important because it requires three points so that we can do better in the rest of the match", said Asnawi.

"I hope all the players prepare again for the next match because the remaining three games are very important in the group stage because we have to win to advance to the next round", he said.

After fighting Timor Leste, Garuda Nusantara's troops must also continue to be ready and alert. Because, they are scheduled to meet the Philippines which will be held on May 13, followed by the last match against Myanmar on May 15.