The Indonesian Women's National Team Was Knocked Out Of The Asian Cup With A 0-28 Goal Difference, Coach: Sorry For This Result

Women's National Team (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The coach of the Indonesian women's national team, Rudy Eka Priyambada, apologized after his squad was eliminated from the 2022 Asian Cup which was held in India.

"I want to apologize to the public and Indonesian football fans. Sorry for this result," Rudy said in a virtual press conference after the match, quoted from Antara, Friday.

The 39-year-old tactician feels guilty because, according to him, the Indonesian public is disappointed with Garuda Pertiwi's achievement in the 2022 Women's Asian Cup.

Because, apart from not being able to qualify from the group phase, Indonesia recorded a very large number of goals conceded in the tournament, namely 28 goals from three matches, without ever scoring a single ball into the opponent's goal.

Rudy said mental factors were one of the reasons for the presence of the negative note.

Baiq Amiatun and his friends are considered to lack experience competing at the international level before fighting in the Asian Cup.

"In the end, we lost, lost concentration and lost everything because the players' mentality fell. This is indeed our evaluation for the next competition," said Rudy.

He also hopes that the results of the 2022 Asian Cup will be an evaluation for Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) in order to develop women's football in Indonesia.

"However, efforts for women's soccer cannot be done alone. There must be cooperation with many parties. What is clear, the Indonesian women's national team dreams of being able to compete again in the next Asian Cup," said Rudy.

The women's national team was unable to advance from the group stage of the 2022 Women's Asian Cup after being beaten by the Philippines 6-0 in their last match in Group B, Thursday, January 27 evening in India.

These results make Indonesia swallow three defeats from three matches. Previously, Indonesia lost 0-18 to Australia and 0-4 to Thailand.

Not qualifying from the group stage repeated Indonesia's achievements in the 1981 and 1989 Women's Asian Cups. Indonesia's best achievements in the competition were being semifinalists in 1977 and 1986.

Indonesia itself has appeared in the Women's Asian Cup five times, namely in 1977, 1981, 1986, 1989, and 2022 editions.

While in the 2022 Women's Asian Cup, India, three ASEAN teams namely the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam were able to seal a place in the quarter-finals which will be held on January 30, 2022.

In the last eight phase, the Philippines will face Taiwan, Vietnam will face China and Thailand will try Japan's power. One game remaining is Australia versus South Korea.