The 38-year-old 'curse' of Indonesian football has not been broken

After losing to U23 Vietnam in the final of U23 Southeast Asia 2025, Indonesian football still has not found a solution to win the title at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.

U23 Indonesia lost to U23 Vietnam right at home stadium Gelora Bung Karno - Photo: BOLA

On the evening of July 29, Indonesia suffered a 0-1 defeat to Vietnam in the final match of the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship. This result left the home team sadly watching coach Kim Sang Sik's team win the tournament for the third consecutive time.

It is worth mentioning that this failure once again extended the sad streak of Indonesian football at the "holy land" Gelora Bung Karno (Jakarta), prolonging the "curse" that has haunted their teams for the past 38 years at the stadium that should have been their pride.

Since 1987, Indonesian teams of all ages have suffered defeat in decisive matches at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.

This is in stark contrast to their impressive record on other pitches. In 2022, Indonesia U16 won the Southeast Asian U16 Championship at Maguwoharjo Stadium. Previously, Evan Dimas' U19 generation also won glory at Sidoarjo.

Gelora Bung Karno is the "holy land" of Indonesian football - Photo: TTO

History has recorded a series of painful defeats of Indonesian football at the “fire pot” Gelora Bung Karno. At the 1997 SEA Games, the Indonesian team lost bitterly to Thailand on penalties in the semi-finals.

Five years later, in the 2002 AFF Cup final, history repeated itself as Indonesia once again fell to Thailand, also on penalties. The disappointment continued into the 2010 AFF Cup final, where they lost to Malaysia 2-4 on aggregate.

And then at the 2011 SEA Games, it was Malaysia who brought sorrow to Indonesia, this time also in the final match and also through the fateful penalty shootout.

The latest defeat of U23 Indonesia against U23 Vietnam in the final of U23 Southeast Asia 2025 continues to rub salt into the pain of this country's football.

“The Gelora Bung Karno National Stadium - the symbol of Indonesia's sports - should be a place where players thrive and win, not a place where they witness tears of defeat over and over again,” Bola wrote.

Watch the full 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Football Championship Mandiri Cup™ live on FPT Play, visit http://fptplay.vn.

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THANH DINH

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/loi-nguyen-38-nam-chua-hoa-giai-cua-bong-da-indonesia-20250730101443293.htm