Indonesia’s U-23 national team secured a narrow 1-0 victory over the Philippines in their second match of the AFF U-23 Championship 2025, a result that highlighted the team’s struggles in converting chances. Coach Gerald Vanenburg addressed the offensive performance following the game at the Bung Karno Main Stadium (SUGBK) on Friday, July 18, 2025.
The lone goal of the match came from an own goal by the Philippines’ Jaime Rozquillo in the first half. The Indonesian attack, featuring players like Hokky Caraka, failed to find the back of the net despite numerous opportunities.
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Jens Raven was absent from the starting lineup due to fitness concerns, and the offensive unit struggled to capitalize on the team’s dominance.
“If you don’t create chances,you can’t score goals. In this match, we had many opportunities, and that’s what’s critically important.The goals will come naturally,” stated Gerald Vanenburg at the GBK Stadium on Friday night WIB.
“In my opinion, we performed vrey well. We created many chances, and they had very few. I believe we should have scored four or five goals,” he added.
the own goal proved decisive, securing three points for the Indonesian U-23 national team. No further goals were scored, extending Indonesia’s winning streak in the tournament.
with this victory, garuda Muda now leads Group A with a perfect six points from two matches. Their progression to the next stage will be confirmed in their final group game against Malaysia on Monday, July 21.
“We have 23 players, and everyone must be ready.Today, it’s not just about Hokky (Caraka) or Jens, but also Brandon (Scheunemann), (Muhammad) Ferrarri, (Rayhan) Hannan, Toni (Firmansyah), and (rahmat) Arjuna,” Vanenburg emphasized.
(mro/aff)