On the evening of July 25, the semi-final match between U23 Indonesia and U23 Thailand was awaited at Bung Karno Stadium (Jakarta, Indonesia).
U23 Thailand took the lead in the 60th minute, when Seksan Ratree stole the ball and assisted Yotsakon to face the goalkeeper, calmly finishing to open the score. This was the first goal that U23 Indonesia conceded since the beginning of the tournament.
However, coach Donald Vanenburg's team is not discouraged. In the 83rd minute, from a corner kick on the right wing, Jens Raven moved intelligently to head the equalizer, bringing the match back into balance amid the burst of the Indonesian audience.
Before that, both teams created many notable opportunities. U23 Indonesia headed against the post in the 28th minute, while U23 Thailand almost doubled the gap with a powerful shot from Maneekorn in the 71st minute. The 90-minute tug-of-war reflects the true nature of a semi-final between the two leading youth football teams in the region.
After a 1-1 draw after the official match time, the two teams had to enter extra time. During this time, U23 Thailand was the team with the better game but could not take advantage of it successfully. On the other side of the front line, U23 Indonesia completed the goal of taking time to bring the match into a lucky penalty shootout.
On the 11m mark, under the pressure of tens of thousands of spectators at Bung Karno Stadium, U23 Thailand missed 2 shots, thereby accepting a final defeat of 6-7.
After losing this match, U23 Thailand can only participate in the 3rd place match against U23 Philippines at 8:00 p.m. on July 28.
