Indonesian newspaper speaks out about the sad reality of Southeast Asian football

(Dan Tri) - Indonesian media commented that Southeast Asian football is still a "lowland" compared to the Asian level, shown through the heavy defeats of U20 Indonesia and U20 Thailand at the 2025 Asian tournament.

Previously, U20 Indonesia lost 0-3 to U20 Iran in their opening match at the U20 Asian Cup on February 13. A day later, the Thai youth team also lost to the Japanese youth team with the same score.

U20 Indonesia (red shirt) lost heavily to U20 Iran (Photo: AFC).

The Indonesian newspaper Suara wrote: "The devastating defeats of the U20 teams of Indonesia and Thailand are a sign that Southeast Asian football is backward. Both Southeast Asian teams received the same result on the opening day, and both teams only played in a way that tried to counter the strength of their opponents."

"Not only did each team not get any points on their opening day, the irreparable defeats of U20 Indonesia against Iran and Thailand against Japan further clarified the huge gap in skill level between Southeast Asian teams and teams of Asian level," Suara newspaper commented further.

Also after the 0-3 loss of U20 Thailand to U20 Japan, coach Emerson Pereira of the young team of the Golden Temple country admitted that the young Thai players could not keep up with the speed of the young Japanese players.

"In the first 15 minutes of the match, I felt like the Japanese players were running as fast as F1 cars, it felt like they were reaching 300 km/h. We couldn't stop them," said Emerson Pereira.

U20 Thailand also lost heavily to U20 Japan (Photo: AFC).

"They scored a goal very early, it was only when they slowed down in the second half that Thailand U20 played better and started to keep the ball," the Brazilian coach of Thailand U20 team said honestly.

As for Indonesia's Suara newspaper, this newspaper shared: "At present, the level of teams in Southeast Asia is still far behind that of teams in East Asia and West Asia, the two regions with the most developed football in Asia."

"Indonesia and Thailand are the football nations with the highest level in Southeast Asia, on par with Vietnam and Malaysia. However, when representatives of Indonesian and Thai football meet teams from other regions, they are often helpless and often become targets for their opponents to score goals," Suara newspaper commented bitterly.

The newspaper of the archipelago country called on countries in Southeast Asia to quickly improve quality: "Football in Southeast Asia should think of other solutions to improve quality and quickly catch up with the Asian level."

"If there is no breakthrough in the way of doing things, the quality of Southeast Asian football will forever be backward and a low-lying area," Suara newspaper emphasized.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/bao-indonesia-noi-len-thuc-te-buon-cua-bong-da-dong-nam-a-20250216113509120.htm