On the evening of July 29, at Bung Karno Stadium (Jakarta), despite being cheered by a large number of home fans, U23 Indonesia still suffered a 0-1 defeat to U23 Vietnam in the final match of the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 tournament.
Attending the press conference after the final match, coach Donald Mervin Vanenburg of U23 Indonesia admitted that facing U23 Vietnam was a difficult match. However, he was still satisfied with the players' fighting spirit.
He said: "I think it was a difficult match. We really had a chance, but conceded a goal from a set piece. But honestly, I believe the players played their best.
They have worked very hard. I am proud of the players. That's right, we lost. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. But we will prepare for the next tournament".
Coach Donald also explained the change in the final strategy: "I think the most important thing is that when we play, we know what we need to do" - even though we have never used that strategy before.
We did it very well. The next step is to get back in shape and play at a higher level. I think the players have tried their best, so I am satisfied with them, and we will return in the next match".
U23 Indonesia started the tournament with a resounding 8-0 victory over Brunei, in which the striker Raven scored 6 goals. However, after this match, U23 Indonesia had difficulty scoring, the goals mainly came from set pieces.
When asked about this, coach Donald said: "I think talking about that is unfair. We knew we didn't score many goals in the last minutes. But I think the players gave their all.
If I have to talk about it, I will talk to them directly, I will never say a bad thing about my players. We win together, we lose together. Therefore, it would be unfair to blame the players. We need to improve, and I believe this team has enough qualities to develop".
"I think first of all, if I look at the game, it's something I'm not happy with. That's why we changed players. The ball needs to be brought forward in that situation.
But it's not easy, because we've missed a lot of chances. We also try to avoid creating opportunities for Vietnam to counterattack. I was not happy with the goal conceded, but that was what happened. The team has devoted themselves.
I believe that the fans really support us. They see that we have given our all. We showed that we wanted to win the game. They also proved that they always support us, and we really need that," coach Donald concluded the press conference.
