The U-23 Indonesian National Team Escaped Thanks To The Assistance Of Vietnam And Malaysia, STY Talks About Fairplay Philosophy

Tmnas Indonesia U-23 coach, Shin Tae-yong. (Photo: Doc. PSSI)

JAKARTA - The U-23 Indonesian national team will certainly qualify for the 2023 AFF U-23 Cup semifinals. The tickets won by Garuda Muda cannot be separated from the intervention of Vietnam and Malaysia.

Indonesia qualified with the best runner-up status, above the Philippines and Timor Leste. The two teams failed to replace Garuda Muda after losing the last match.

The Philippines lost to Vietnam, while Timor Leste fell in Malaysian hands.

The U-23 Indonesian national team coach, Shin Tae-yong said, the match between Vietnam and the Philippines has shown evidence that fairplay philosophy is true.

"I have a football philosophy of playing with fairplay," Shin Tae-yong said in a press conference ahead of the semifinal match against Thailand on Wednesday.

"When the AFF U-19 Cup in Indonesia (last year) in Thailand's match against Vietnam, I believe the match went fair. So I think what Vietnam (vs Philippines) presented in last night's match was the same," he continued, as reported by Antara.

The South Korean coach also said that the four teams that qualified for the semifinals were a decent team.

"Four teams in the semifinals, namely Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam, I think it is worth qualifying for the semifinals. So I hope that the semifinals will present a good match," he said.

The Garuda Muda team will face Thailand in the AFF U-23 Cup semifinal match. This match will take place at the Rayong Provincial Stadium, Thailand, Thursday, August 24, at 20.00 WIB.

The AFF U-23 Cup semifinal match that brought together the Indonesian national team against Thailand was the 2023 SEA Games final re-match in Cambodia some time ago.

At that time, the Indonesian national team, coached by Indra Sjafri, came out as the winner with a score of 5-2, as well as won the SEA Games gold medal, since the Garuda squad won the last time in 1991.

The 2-5 defeat certainly still made an impression on the White Elephant Country team. The result of the AFF U-23 Cup semifinal match which took place at their own headquarters will be Thailand's chance to take revenge.