Ahead Of The 2025 AFF U-23 Cup Final, Erick Thohir: Strong Love

Erick Thohir ran the national team's spirit in the final match (Photo: PSSI)

JAKARTA - PSSI General Chairperson (Ketum) Erick Thohir expressed his enthusiasm at the U-23 Indonesian national team officials ahead of the final. Will hunt for the 2025 AFF U-23 Cup title, he asked the players not to be afraid to show a hard game.

Seeing the golden opportunity that lies ahead, Erick hopes that the Garuda Squad can play more disciplined in serving the possibility of Vietnam's hard game as happened in the 2023 Thailand AFF U-23 Cup final.

"Yes, this is the second time we have met Vietnam at the AFF U-23. But I'm sure it's different, because time in Thailand is quite hard. If you remember, friends are quite harsh, yes, later (at the final) if they give hard, we will give it hard too. We are the hosts here," said Erick Thohir in his statement quoted on Sunday, July 27.

In the 2023 edition of the final, the U-23 Indonesian national team was faced with Vietnam. At that time Vietnam played quite hard and made Indonesia fail to score in normal time but then, Vietnam came out victorious after defeating Indonesia 6-5 in the penalty shootout round.

Erick hopes that the experience in the 2023 edition of the AFF U-23 Cup can be a valuable experience for the Garuda Muda squad. Looking at the final against Thailand later, the players were asked not to be afraid to face the opponent's hard game.

"Don't them (Thailand) trampled on our home base. So if you play hard, here you give hard love. It doesn't mean you hurt. We can't injure each other. But that means we have to dare to play hard too," he explained.

The 2025 AFF U-23 Cup final match between the U-23 Indonesian national team and Vietnam will be held at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Jakarta. The match took place on Monday, July 29 at 20.00 WIB.