Vanenburg Reveals One Big Problem The U-23 Indonesian National Team

The U-23 Indonesian national team is still considered unproductive (VOI/Karisa Aurelia Tukan).

JAKARTA - The U-23 Indonesian national team must settle for the runner-up status of the 2025 AFF U-23 Cup. Defeated 0-1 from Vietnam U-23 in the final round, Gerald Vanenburg as coach of Garuda Muda said there was one big problem that his troops had to solve.

On the way to the 2025 AFF U-23 Cup, five matches have been passed by Garuda Muda, the result was two wins at normal times, one win on penalties, one draw, and one loss.

Of the five matches, Kadek Arel and his friends even scored 10 goals and conceded twice.

Vanenburg considered that the problem that was urgent and had to be resolved by the team was about breaking into the opponent's goal.

The U-23 Indonesian national team could only score more than one goal against Brunei Darussalam U-23. In addition, there was only one goal against the Philippines U-23 and Thailand U-23, while against Malaysia U-23 and Vietnam U-23 no goals were made.

"If you see the team playing, I think they are playing well. We still have to think about how to score more goals."

"We had a lot of chances, but it was hard to score goals. I think our plans and performances are good."

"However, in football, we have to score goals, so we have to improve on that," Vanenburg said after the match, quoted on Wednesday, July 30, 2025.

Regarding this situation, Vanenburg and his team are required to immediately find a way out because in early September 2025 they will be challenged by Laos, Macau, and South Korea in the 2026 U-23 Asian Cup Qualification.

Indonesia U-23 will host opponents in Group J of the 2026 U-23 Asian Cup Qualification at the Gelora Delta Stadium, Sidoarjo, on September 3-9, 2025.

Later, only group winners will get tickets to qualify directly for the 2026 U-23 Asian Cup. Meanwhile, of the 11 groups in the qualifying session, there will only be four quotas for the best runners-up.