Indonesian football legend Rully Nere harshly criticized the performance of the Indonesian U-23 national team when they were defeated by the Vietnamese U-23 national team 0-1 (Nguyen Cong Phuong 37') in the final match of the 2025 ASEAN U-23 Championship at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium.
In his criticism, the former footballer, who is now 68 years old, assessed that Garuda Muda was too carried away by the opponent's game, so that the good game they displayed in the previous match was not visible.
"From what I saw in the match earlier, the kids weren't focused on the game, but on their opponents. In the end, it didn't work out," said Rully, who has played for the senior national team 38 times, when met by reporters after the match at SUGBK on Tuesday.
"Previously, we saw them playing one-on-one, two-on-one. Not this time. They play the ball forward, back again, forward, back again. So there's no variation. Because they're already focused on their opponent," he added.
Rully, who played as a midfielder, said Indonesia also lacks "skilled" players. He believes such players would be invaluable if a key game plan fails to execute effectively.
