PSSI Chairman Erick Thohir confirmed that the Indonesian U-23 national team will continue to be coached by Gerald Vanenburg in the 2026 U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers in September, even though the Dutch coach recently failed to deliver the trophy at the 2025 ASEAN U-23 Championship.
Vanenburg almost started his first tournament in Indonesia as head coach with a title, but was ultimately thwarted by the Vietnamese U-23 national team in the final match with a score of 0-1 at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium (SUGBK), Jakarta, on Tuesday.
"(For the 2025 SEA Games coach) We'll discuss it with the national team body. Gerald is definitely the one for the AFC (2026 U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers)," Erick said when met by reporters after the match at SUGBK, Tuesday.
In the 2026 AFC U-23 Championship qualifiers, Indonesia, the host nation in Sidoarjo, is in Group J alongside South Korea, Laos, and Macau. The 11 group winners and the four best runners-up will advance to the finals with host Saudi Arabia in January next year.
In the previous edition in 2024, the Young Garuda, coached by Shin Tae-yong, reached the finals in Qatar. They nearly qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics, but failed to qualify after being defeated by Guinea U-23 in the play-off round in Paris, France.
