JAKARTA - Evandra Florasta expressed his apologies after the U-17 Indonesian national team lost to Zambia U-17 in the inaugural match of the 2025 U-17 World Cup.
In the match at Field 7 Aspire Zone, Tuesday, November 4, 2025, WIB night, the Garuda Nusantara Squad actually took a 1-0 lead over Zambia through a goal scored by Zahaby Gholy in the 12th minute.
However, Zambia could turn things around before halftime thanks to Abel Nyirongo's brace and Lukonde Mwale's goal.
After the match, Evandra opened up about the 1-3 defeat that the team had to accept. According to him, focus is an obstacle when facing Zambia.
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"A pretty dramatic match. Previously, we had anticipated attacks from Zambia. Maybe we lacked focus in the middle of the game when we were ahead."
"Maybe I myself apologize and the team for not being able to maintain the advantage in the first half," said Evandra Florasta in a statement after the match, quoted Wednesday, November 5, 2025.
He also said that at halftime, Nova Arianto's advice was given to raise the team's spirits. What the coach focused on was the matter of confidence that must continue to be improved.
"Coach Nova in the dressing room said it's useless if you have prepared tactics, prepare how to attack, but don't dare and don't believe in yourself."
"Coach Nova asked in the second half to be more confident and without fear of being wrong," he said.
This result made the U-17 Indonesian national team lose points in the first match of the 2025 U-17 World Cup group phase.
In Group H standings, Nova Arianto's men are now ranked third behind Brazil U-17 and Zambia U-17.
Apart from that, Evandra played an important role in the U-17 Indonesian national team goal. His action penetrated the penalty box which led to a goal made by Zahaby Gholy.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
