M. Iqbal: 2025 SEA Games gold is proof that Indonesian futsal has developed

Viralterkini.id, Jakarta – New history was made by the Indonesian National Futsal Team (Timnas) at the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand.

This is the first time that a gold medal has been brought home to Indonesia from a sport that has been competed in at the SEA Games since 2007.

It was not easy for Hector Souto Vasquez’s team to score this gold medal. The reason is that in the second match, Indonesia lost 0-1 to Vietnam.

Unexpectedly, in the deciding match, hosts Thailand, which was the final test, were beaten 6-1 to ensure they were the best.

The captain, Mochammad Iqbal Rahmatullah Iskandar, said that their journey in achieving the highest achievements at the Southeast Asian sporting event was quite long.

Careful preparations were made, starting from training in Indonesia, to arriving two weeks early to Thailand.

“This is also part of the long-term roadmap for the Indonesian National Futsal Team. Moreover, the expectations are also quite high. So in yesterday’s preparations there was no such thing as relaxing, the main thing was to keep going, and thank God the result was a gold medal,” recalled Iqbal.

This player from the Bintang Timur Surabaya club admitted that his team’s mentality had dropped after losing to Vietnam.

However, the coach and his staff continue to provide motivation to get up and look at the match against Thailand with optimism.

“So previously we lost 0-1 to Vietnam. We were maybe a bit down, definitely disappointed. But there the coaching staff also always motivated us, especially Hector is not only good at tactics, but he is also a great motivator,” said Iqbal.

“He always emphasizes a winning mentality, so after the defeat against Vietnam, we immediately focused on fighting Thailand,” he added.

It was explained that the coach implemented an adaptive strategy, always analyzing the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. From there the Indonesian National Team can take advantage of Thailand’s weaknesses.

“So Hector implemented a pretty good strategy, and all his strategies were followed by his players,” explained this 30 year old man.

According to Iqbal, there were many factors in Indonesia’s success in finally breaking Thailand’s dominance in the SEA Games futsal.

One of these achievements is the result of increasingly better local league competitions.

Likewise, previously the National Team played trial matches against various countries leading up to the SEA Games.

“Previously, we played against Argentina, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Latvia, the Netherlands, Tanzania, and most recently against Australia. All of these matches provided special experience for us to be able to appear at the SEA Games. Thank God, with the results of these trials, we were able to do our best and get a gold medal,” explained the captain.

The Thai team, said Iqbal, is not a weak team. So according to him, Indonesia’s victory over the hosts actually shows that the National Futsal Team has developed for the better.

“So this is not the Thai Team B or the weak Thai Team. But in my personal opinion, the Indonesian National Team itself is developing,” stressed Iqbal.

He stated that this achievement was an encouragement for the Indonesian National Team in looking towards the next futsal and multi-event events that await in the future.

The closest is the 2026 Asian Cup at the end of January, where Indonesia will act as host.

“At the end of January we will be the host for the AFC Futsal Asian Cup, at the Indonesia Arena. What is certain is that for the players there will definitely be another selection,” said Iqbal while hoping that there would be a trial match before facing this event.