President of the Indonesian Football Federation stated the reason why his team collapsed before U23 Vietnam

(Dan Tri) - In an interview with the press, President of the Indonesian Football Federation (IFF), Mr. Erick Thohir, stated the reason why his team lost to U23 Vietnam.

The President of the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI), Erick Thohir, had high hopes for the Indonesian U23 team to win the Southeast Asian U23 Championship on home soil. However, that did not come true when the Indonesian U23 team lost 0-1 to the Vietnamese U23 team in the final match.

PSSI President Erick Thohir said that U23 Indonesia failed due to lack of force (Photo: Getty).

Speaking after the match, President Erick Thohir said that the failure of U23 Indonesia was due to the force factor when two players Arkhan Fikri and Toni Firmansyah could not play because they had not fully recovered from injuries.

The head of Indonesian football said: “If you ask if this is the strongest force of Indonesia U23, my answer is no. Because we lost two key players, Arkhan Fikri and Toni Firmansyah.

However, that is not an excuse for us to blame the defeat. Football is a team sport . It is just a pity that without Arkhan and Toni, we could not play at our best. The balance in the midfield of U23 Indonesia was not optimal."

In fact, U23 Indonesia still sent Arkhan Fikri onto the field in the final minutes. However, this number 10 midfielder could not make a difference when facing the highly organized defense of U23 Vietnam. The team from the archipelago could only hang the ball harmlessly into the penalty area.

The sadness of the entire U23 Indonesia team after missing out on the championship (Photo: Bola).

President Erick Thohir praised the U23 Indonesian players even though they did not win the championship: “The boys played their best. They were focused for the entire 90 minutes. There was a moment when we conceded a goal and there were also a few times when we played with excitement but could not score.

Regardless of the result, I still have to praise the Indonesian U23 players. They gave their all. Vietnam U23 played fiercely but we also played bravely. They tried to fight but could not make a difference."

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/chu-tich-ldbd-indonesia-neu-ly-do-khien-doi-nha-guc-nga-truoc-u23-viet-nam-20250730185524733.htm