Indonesia will host the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship, which will take place from July 15 to 29. This will be the first time the archipelago nation has hosted the tournament since the 2011 edition was canceled due to inadequate infrastructure.

As hosts, U23 Indonesia aims to win the Southeast Asian youth football championship.

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U23 Indonesia prepares carefully for U23 Southeast Asia. Photo: Antara

U23 Indonesia has prepared very carefully for the 4th regional tournament in history, when calling up a list of 30 players to practice thoroughly.

Leading the U23 Indonesia team is former player Gerald Vanenburg. He is in the same generation as legends Marco van Basten and Ruud Gillit, together they led the Netherlands to the EURO 1988 championship.

Supporting Vanenburg is assistant Simon Tahamata – who directly conveys tactical ideas and directs training sessions.

Simon Tahamata was once assigned by the Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI) as the head of the national team's scouting department, so he has an understanding of the players. Therefore, he became Vanenburg's right-hand man.

In the early days, the former Dutch winger received much praise.

Ahmed Zaki Iskandar, head of the Indonesian U23 delegation, was excited: “Gerald Vanenburg is a great person. Besides, the support from Simon Tahamata brings a lot of guidance to the players” .

Mr. Iskandar said that there is a quick adaptation between Vanenburg and the young players, and confirmed that PSSI's goal is to win the U23 Southeast Asian championship.

U23 Indonesia wants to prevent U23 Vietnam from making a hat-trick of championships. The “Golden Star Warriors” were crowned champions of the regional youth football festival in the last two editions.

"The goal of U23 Indonesia is to step onto the highest podium," said the team manager.

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Coach Vanenburg was the 1988 EURO champion with the Netherlands. Photo: Antara

The preparation time for the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 is not too long, but Iskandar is confident that the players can adapt to Vanenburg's tactics.

Ahmed Zaki Iskandar believes that the current U23 Indonesian players can quickly adapt and combine into a strong team.

“Actually, the current U23 members have also matured. They are all professional players. Therefore, even though the time together was only 3 weeks, it was enough for them to understand and adapt to each other,” Iskandar emphasized.

Vanenburg himself also praised the quality of the current U23 members, with special qualities.

“I think we have very good players, so I really believe that Indonesia U23 can do something special,” said the player who started the EURO 1988 final, when the Netherlands beat the Soviet Union 2-0.

Vietnam U23 holds the record of winning 2 times in 4 times of organizing U23 Southeast Asia; behind is Thailand U23 with 1 time winning and 2 runners-up; Indonesia U23 won 1 and lost 1 in the final.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/u23-indonesia-co-nha-vo-dich-euro-tuyen-bo-vuot-qua-u23-viet-nam-2415031.html