Let Laos get points, Indonesia soon faces losing ticket to U23 Asia qualifiers

TPO - Despite having a superior squad with naturalized players, Indonesia has not improved its performance. They just caused a big disappointment with a 0-0 draw with U23 Laos.

Struick deadlocked before Laos defense

On the evening of September 3, Indonesia played the opening match of Group J of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers. In the same group with them were U23 Korea, Laos and Macau China. Before that, Korea easily defeated Macau China 5-0, so Indonesia understood that they had to get a strong result to maintain the race for the top spot and a ticket to the next round.

With superior skills and home advantage, U23 Indonesia showed an overwhelming performance. With a better quality domestic squad than Laos, in addition to 2 naturalized Dutch players, Indonesia tried to put strong pressure on Laos' defense. They put the ball in the net in the 6th minute. However, this goal was not recognized because of Raven's handball.

After that, Indonesia maintained a fairly high speed of attack. However, despite launching a series of attacks, they still could not score. The home players showed impatience, often miscoordinating in the final third of the field. In the few rare opportunities, Struick, Ferrari, Firmansyah or Jens Raven, the top scorer of the 2025 U23 Southeast Asia tournament, all wasted them.

Ferrari regrets missing the opportunity

A solid defense is the basis for Laos to play with more and more confidence. Despite being under great pressure, they still stand firm. Occasionally, they launch counter-attacks, causing many difficulties for the Indonesian defense.

The match ended in a 0-0 draw. This result meant that the Indonesian team only earned 1 point, thereby missing the opportunity to catch up with South Korea. It can even be said that they are facing the risk of not qualifying.

With 1 point, Indonesia must beat South Korea in the final match to have a chance of winning the top spot. If they draw or lose, they will only have a maximum of 5 points, making it difficult to compete with other second-placed teams because many second-placed teams will finish the qualifying round with at least 6 points. Remember, only 4/11 best second-placed teams will qualify for the finals.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/de-lao-lay-diem-indonesia-som-doi-dien-mat-ve-tai-vong-loai-u23-chau-a-post1775269.tpo