Vanenburg Praise Indonesian National Team: Increasing Player Games

Viralterkini.id, Sidoarjo-Indonesian U23 national team won a 5-0 victory over the Macau national team. The Indonesian U23 national team continued its struggle to qualify for the U23 Asian Cup 2026.

In the second match in Group J U23 Asian Cup qualification 2026, the Garuda Muda squad faces the Macau national team. Also Read: Malut United vs PSIM 0-2 Results, Laskar Mataram partying at Ternate Duel U23 Indonesia vs. Macau National Team was held at the Gelora Delta Sidoarjo Stadium, Saturday (6/9/2025). In this match, Indonesia was 5-0 ahead and won its first victory in Group J.

Previously Vanenburg said he was not satisfied seeing his team’s appearance when drawing 0-0 against Laos.

“Yes, I think we played much better than the first match,” Vanenburg said at a press conference after the match at the Gelora Delta Sidoarjo Stadium on Saturday.

The five Indonesian goals were scored by Arkhan Fikri, Rayhan Hannan, Zanadin Fariz, and Rafael Struick, while one other goal from Ieong Lek Hang’s own goal at the beginning of the match.

This victory temporarily placed Garuda Muda in second place in Group J with four points, two points under South Korea at the top of the standings that won perfect points from two matches.

Despite the big win, said Vanenburg, his team could not be complacent because the trip was not finished.

Indonesia will face South Korea in the last match of the qualifying round at the Gelora Delta Sidoarjo Stadium on Tuesday (9/9).

From this match, a team will be obtained which became the top of the group to qualify automatically to the U-23 Asian Cup finals in Saudi Arabia in January 2026.

In addition to the 11 tops of the group that walked to Saudi Arabia, the four best runners-ups were entitled to enter the finals.

“This is a moment where we can’t be too happy and too long because we only need to think about Korea and this one must be forgotten,” said the Dutch coach.

“We have to try to beat Korea to qualify. Really, I think we have quite a lot of good players to qualify. And to be honest, I think it is important for young players to be in the tournament (U-23 2026 Asian Cup). So we have to correct mistakes from the first match,” he added.

In this match Vanenburg changed six starters. Only Cahya Supriadi, Kakang Rudianto, Toni Firmansyah, Arkhan Fikri, and Rayhan Hannan, which he maintained.

“I think if you see the players and they play in the club and play 14 or 15 minutes, you can’t play three matches in nine days,” said the 1988 European Cup winner with the Dutch national team explained the reason.

“We have to find things that make the players play in a better condition and shape here,” he concluded.

With this result, Indonesia strengthens their chances of qualifying for the 2026 U-23 Asian Cup finals. (MA)