Parting ways with the Dutch coach, Indonesia still fails to secure a victory

Despite high expectations, Indonesia U23 was defeated by India with a score of 1-2 on home ground.

Indonesia U23 suffered a loss in their first friendly match against India U23 at Gelora Bung Karno Madya Stadium in Jakarta on the evening of October 10th as preparation for SEA Games 33. Coach Indra Sjafri's team lost 1-2 to India. Indonesia U23 started the game with an aggressive attacking approach. Coach Indra Sjafri’s squad tried to control the match and put pressure on India.

However, India U23 surprised by capitalizing on a mistake from Frengky Missa, who made a poor pass in his own half. Suhail Ahmad intercepted the ball and immediately charged into Indonesia U23’s penalty area before finishing decisively to open the scoring in the 5th minute.

Trailing by one goal, Indonesia U23 tried to stage a comeback. Nevertheless, India was still more efficient in taking their chances, extending their lead in the 26th minute with a long-range shot by Suhail Ahmad from the edge of Indonesia U23’s penalty box.

Fortunately, before the first half ended, Indonesia U23 equalized thanks to a beautiful goal by Dony Tri Pamungkas. In the 41st minute, receiving a short pass inside the box, Dony executed a skillful dribble before curling a shot into the top far corner of India’s goalpost.

In the second half, Coach Indra Sjafri made several changes, bringing in more key players such as Arkhan Fikri, Michael Tata, Jens Raven, and goalkeeper Muhammad Ardiansyah. However, the second half ended without any goals scored. Indonesia U23 and India U23 will meet again for a rematch on October 13th.

Indonesia U23 recently changed coaches, parting with Dutch strategist Gerald Vanenburg and placing their trust in experienced coach Indra Sjafri. However, the team still performed poorly after losing to Vietnam U23 in the final of the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship.