On the evening of April 14, U17 Indonesia entered the quarterfinals in the U17 Asian Championship 2025 against U17 North Korea.
Contrary to the impressive performance in the group stage, young Indonesian players lost the game before the opponent very early. They lost 2 goals after 19 minutes of the first half. In the second half, the students of coach Nova Arianto conceded 4 more goals to close the defeat with a score of 0-6 final.
Despite the stop in the quarterfinals, the Van Dao team still won the right to attend the U17 2025 World Cup.
After the match, the U17 Indonesian head coach Nova Arianto said: "I am sorry to end the journey at the U17 Asian tournament here. U17 North Korea is a strong opponent.
I would like to apologize to fans who expected the dramatic match. However, this will be a valuable lesson for young players to better prepare for the World Cup. I want the players to be proud to win tickets to the World Cup and they have a successful tournament.
We need to improve many things to make a mark in the World Cup. The next 7 months is very important for U17 Indonesia. "
Meanwhile, Indonesian media also expressed certain worries after the home team's bold defeat.
CNN Indonesia wrote: "U17 North Korea shows the extraordinary spirit of competition and amazing quality of playing football. These advantages make them quickly take the lead. U17 North Korea plays determined, good control of the match.
Meanwhile, the Republika frankly shared the view: "The 0-6 defeat to U17 North Korea is a bitter reality as well as a great lesson for the U17 Indonesian team, especially coach Nova Arianto. He needs a clear plan for the team to be higher when attending the U17 World Cup World Cup 2025 in November."
