Before the 2025 U23 Southeast Asian final against the U23 Vietnam team, Indonesia's Bola pointed out weaknesses that could make it difficult for U23 Indonesia in the final match of the tournament.
Accordingly, the first problem mentioned is the ineffective finishing of U23 Indonesia. The U23 Indonesia team needs to improve their finishing, which is extremely necessary for our team to regain their excitement.
The Indonesian U23 team lacked firepower in front of the opponent's goal when they only won 1-0 against the Philippines, 0-0 against Malaysia and 1-1 against Thailand," wrote Indonesia's Bola.
Indonesia U23 coach Donald Vanenburg himself admitted to Bola that his strikers have difficulty facing strong opponents.
Another weakness that was mentioned was that U23 Indonesia often had difficulty in the opponent's quick counter-attacks. U23 Indonesia is moving from attack to defense quite slowly.
In the match against U23 Thailand, U23 Indonesia played ball control and proactively attacked. However, the opponent also took a lot of damage in counter-attacks, with 25 shots, 5 on target and including 1 goal," Bola added.
Finally, the possibility of midfielders Arkhan Fikri and Toni Firmansyah playing in the final against U23 Vietnam is also a concern for the U23 Indonesia team.
Indonesia U23's two midfield pillars, Arkhan Fikri and Toni Firmansyah, are also at risk of missing the final match.
According to Mr. Frank van Kempen, an assistant in the coaching staff, both have physical problems and cannot return to the training ground as usual, informed the Indonesian sports newspaper.
Both Arkhan Fikri and Toni Firmansyah have been key players in the playing style of U23 Indonesia since the beginning of the tournament. Fikri is outstanding for his ability to hold the rhythm, organize the attack and keep the ball well, while Firmansyah is highly appreciated for his ability to support defense and distribute the ball intelligently from the second line.
The understanding between this duo helped Indonesia maintain a balanced game, control the ball effectively and create many opportunities for the upper-level players.
In addition, the striker who has scored 7 goals for the Indonesian U23 team, Jens Raven, has also left open the possibility of playing due to health problems after 120 minutes of play in the semi-final match against Thailand U23.
