U.23 Indonesia eliminated, big boss demands to review everything: Coach may be fired

The President of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI), Mr. Erick Thohir, asked Technical Director Alexander Zwiers to review everything after the failure of the U.23 team in the U.23 Asian qualifiers. Coach Gerald Vanenburg could be fired.

Comprehensive review of Indonesia U.23 team

According to Mr. Erick Thohir: "U.23 Indonesia needs to be comprehensively reviewed, not only in the Asian qualifiers, but also in all other tournaments. After this U.23 Asian qualifiers, we still have the SEA Games 33 schedule in December. Not only today's results, but also future preparations. That's all."

Coach Gerald Vanenburg's future at U.23 Indonesia is uncertain.

Photo: Dong Nguyen Khang

Indonesia U23 has set a big goal to win a ticket to the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals, when strengthening up to 4 naturalized players including Matthew Baker, Dion Markx, Jens Raven and Rafael Struick. In which, Rafael Struick is added from the Indonesian team.

Coach Gerald Vanenburg also wanted to add the newly naturalized player Mauro Zijlstra (20 years old, Dutch origin). But he was rejected by national team coach Kluivert, because he wanted to test this player to replace injured striker Ole Romeny.

Possessing the strongest squad and significantly changed since the final match of the U.23 Southeast Asia tournament, losing 0-1 to U.23 Vietnam on July 29, the U.23 Indonesia team entered the qualifying round of the U.23 Asia tournament with great spirit. However, the shocking draw on the opening day against U.23 Laos with a score of 0-0 became the main reason why the young team of the archipelago lost the opportunity to win a ticket to the final round.

The 5-0 victory over Macau only rekindled some hope, before U.23 Indonesia used all their remaining efforts but still could not overcome strong opponent U.23 Korea (lost 0-1) and was eliminated.

"Yes, U.23 Indonesia tried very hard. We changed the formation from 4-3-3, 3-5-2, and tried again with other formations. And in the end, we still lost 0-1 to Korea, a very strong team. I think, U.23 Indonesia lost honorably," PSSI President Erick Thohir told the Indonesian press after the match on September 9.

Mr. Erick Thohir also called the loss of U.23 Indonesia to U.23 Korea "a proud defeat", but will certainly have a discussion with PSSI Technical Director Mr. Alexander Zwiers to clarify all the reasons.

According to CNN Indonesia, there have been many suggestions for PSSI to fire coach Gerald Vanenburg since the draw with Laos U.23 team, but Mr. Erick Thohir and his colleagues have not made a decision yet, because everything needs to be reviewed.

In particular, consulting with Technical Director Alexander Zwiers will be very important, because the U.23 Indonesia team needs change and stability to aim for SEA Games 33. Besides, there is the ambition to build a squad to conquer the dream of participating in the 2028 Olympics.

There is still a chance for U.23 Indonesia to do it again, because the U.23 Asian finals in early 2026 are not qualifiers for the 2028 Olympics, but the next tournament.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/u23-indonesia-bi-loai-sep-lon-doi-xem-lai-moi-thu-hlv-co-the-bi-sa-thai-185250910083718366.htm