Previously, Indonesia U20 lost 0-3 to Iran U20 in their opening match of the AFC U20 Asian Cup on February 13. A day later, Thailand’s youth team also suffered a similar defeat against Japan’s youth team.
Indonesia U20 (in red) suffered a heavy defeat against Iran U20 (Photo: AFC).
The Indonesian publication Suara wrote: “The devastating defeats of Indonesia U20 and Thailand U20 are clear signs that Southeast Asian football is lagging behind. Both Southeast Asian teams had identical results in their opening matches, and both could only play defensively against their opponents’ overwhelming strength.”
“Not only did they fail to earn any points in their respective opening games, but the irredeemable losses of Indonesia U20 against Iran and Thailand U20 against Japan further highlight the vast gap in quality between Southeast Asian teams and those at the Asian level,” Suara added.
Following Thailand U20’s 0-3 loss to Japan U20, Emerson Pereira, head coach of Thailand’s youth team, admitted that his young players couldn’t keep up with the pace of Japan’s youth squad.
Mr. Emerson Pereira said: “In the first 15 minutes of the match, it felt like the Japanese players were running as fast as F1 cars, almost reaching speeds of 300 km/h. We simply couldn’t stop them.”
Thailand U20 also suffered a heavy defeat against Japan U20 (Photo: AFC).
“They scored very early, and only when they slowed down in the second half did Thailand U20 start playing better and managing to keep possession,” the Brazilian coach of Thailand’s U20 team honestly remarked.
Meanwhile, Suara of Indonesia commented: “At this point, the level of teams in Southeast Asia still lags far behind those from East Asia and West Asia, the two most developed football regions in Asia.”
“Indonesia and Thailand are among the strongest football nations in Southeast Asia, on par with Vietnam and Malaysia. However, when representatives of Indonesian and Thai football face teams from other regions, they often become helpless and frequently turn into easy targets for opponents to score against,” Suara bitterly observed.
The Indonesian outlet urged Southeast Asian nations to quickly improve their quality: “Football associations in Southeast Asia should consider new solutions to enhance their standards and catch up with the rest of Asia.”
“If there’s no breakthrough in approach, the quality of Southeast Asian football will remain backward, forever stuck as the weakest region,” Suara emphasized.
Source link: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/bao-indonesia-noi-len-thuc-te-buon-cua-bong-da-dong-nam-a-20250216113509120.htm
