The Minister of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Indonesia Dito Ariotedjo appreciated the efforts of the Indonesian U-23 national team which became a finalist in the 2025 ASEAN U-23 Championship.
The U-23 national team was unable to end its long drought of lifting the trophy for all age groups of the national team at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium (SUGBK), Jakarta, after in the final match played on Tuesday, the Young Garuda were defeated by the Vietnamese U-23 national team 0-1.
"Yes, of course, I really appreciate the team composition, even though it's not the full team, as I mentioned earlier. This appreciation isn't for the full team, but the Indonesian team managed to reach the final. This means the strategy they used and their playing style were excellent. If they had won, that would have been a different matter," Dito said when met by reporters after the match at SUGBK.
According to Dito, the failure to lift the trophy at home is a lesson to build a stronger team, especially since the team coached by Gerald Vanenburg will soon compete in the qualifying rounds of the 2026 U-23 Asian Cup in September and the 2025 SEA Games in December.
"But what's certain is that, as I mentioned earlier, this year, coincidentally, there will be the AFC (U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers) in September, and most importantly, the SEA Games," said the 34-year-old minister.
