The U20 Indonesia team participates in the 2025 U20 Asian Football Championship with the goal of reaching the semi-finals to qualify for the 2025 U20 World Cup finals in Chile.
However, the young players of the archipelago were soon eliminated from the group stage. They have 1 draw and 2 losses, earned 1 point, ranked 3rd behind Iran and Uzbekistan still above Yemen.
After this result, the Indonesian U20 team, especially coach Indra Sjafri, was under great pressure. Immediately after that, this coach took his own moves.
Mr. Indra Sjafri spoke up: "I did not complete the task. I accepted a huge risk, which was to set a goal for the Indonesian U20 team to qualify for the World Cup. I do not blame any of the reasons for this failure, losing is losing. Therefore, I am ready to resign.
I completely let PSSI (Indonesia Football Federation) decide. I do not care about being replaced because this is PSSI's task. Regardless of the risk of this failure, I still take full responsibility."
Coach Indra Sjafri has been leading the Indonesian youth teams since 2012. He once helped Indonesia U22 win the gold medal at the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia after a long wait of 32 years.
Before the 2025 U20 Asian Cup, coach Indra Sjafri was considered a strong candidate for the position of head coach of the Indonesian U22 team participating in the 33rd SEA Games in December in Thailand.
However, with the announcement of his readiness to resign, the opportunity for Mr. Sjafri to participate in the 33rd SEA Games is not much.
