2023 U-20 Asian Cup: Problems That The Indonesian National Team Must Immediately Fix If They Want To Beat Syria

The Indonesian U-20 national team. (photo: PSSI)

JAKARTA - The U-20 Indonesian national team lost their first match in Group A of the 2023 U-20 Asian Cup. At that time, Garuda Nusantara gave up 0-2 from Iraq.

However, the defeat has tried to be forgotten by the national team players. Now they are looking at the next match.

Shin Tae-yong's team will meet Syria on Saturday, March 4. There are problems that must be addressed if you don't want the results against Iraq to happen again.

Indonesia U-20 National Team player, Alfriyanto Nico hopes that his team will be better than the previous match.

"Hopefully it can maximize opportunities and not concede," said the Indonesian winger.

Nico stated that he and his colleagues had learned from the match against Iraq. They also realized that there were still some things that needed to be addressed.

"Evaluation for the future must also fix passing, the problem of passing and communication is necessary as well, and finishing issues are the most important," said the Persija Jakarta player.

The U-20 Indonesian national team must play in a cold enough temperature situation, which may affect most players who are accustomed to playing in tropical climates.

However, Nico stated that the players must adapt quickly and not be able to make this a reason for their not performing optimally.

"The weather problem is influential, but players must also adapt quickly, because what can we do, we also have to adjust to the temperature here," Nico concluded, as reported by Antara, Friday, March 3.

The match against Syria will be played in the same place as the first match, namely Lokomotiv Tashkent Stadium. The match can be a life-to-life match for the U-20 Indonesian national team, which currently occupies the caretaker position of Group A with zero points.

Indonesia's chances of qualifying for the knockout phase have not been fully closed, as Iraq and host Uzbekistan will also meet on Saturday. If Garuda Muda could steal three points against Syria, Indonesia's chances of advancing to the next round would be maintained.

Victory over Syria will also present a moral injection before Garuda Muda meets host Uzbekistan in the last match at the Istiqlol Stadium, the city of Fergana, Tuesday, March 7.