Tickets For The 2025 U-17 World Cup To Become A Sweet Gift For The Indonesian Nation

JAKARTA When most Indonesians were still in the atmosphere of Eid al-Fitr, the U-17 Indonesian National Team gave a sweet gift, namely qualifying for the 2025 U-17 World Cup finals.

Indonesia U-17 successfully scored two consecutive wins in the Group C phase of the 2025 U-17 Asian Cup. South Korea was silenced 1-0 on April 4, then three days later I Putu Panji Apriawan and his friends shaved Yemen 4-1 in a match held at the King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium, Saudi Arabia.

The result is not only wrapping tickets to the quarter-finals of this tournament, but also passing Nova Arianto's squad to advance to the final round of the 2025 U-17 World Cup.

A beautiful gift of course, in the midst of a series of unpleasant news from the economic sector recently.

"Congratulations to the U17 national team, successful for the coach team, Coach Team & Staff. The best prayers achieved optimal achievements at PD U17 Qatar 2025," wrote Fakhri Husaini, a former U-19 Indonesian national team coach in a post on his personal Instagram account.

Although it is not as lively as the senior national team made by Patrick Kluivert, who still maintains hope for the 2026 World Cup, the success of the U-17 national team has made it to the final round a beautiful gift for the people of Indonesia, which has recently been presented with unpleasant news.

This is the second time the U-17 Indonesian national team has completed the U-17 World Cup, after two years ago appearing as the host. But through the qualifying path, this is the first time Garuda Muda has advanced to the final round.

Prior to this, Indonesia had also appeared in the 1979 U-20 World Cup in Japan. But at that time the team's qualifying for Japan could not be separated from luck because they replaced one of the two teams that canceled their appearance, namely Iraq and North Korea.

At that time, Indonesia became a companion to South Korea and Japan as representatives of Asia. Unfortunately, Indonesia, which is in Group B with Argentina, Poland, andition cannot speak much.

The team, which at that time was attacked by Sutjipto Suntoro, was battered by 16 goals without reply throughout the group stage.

Appearing in big events like the World Cup is not an easy matter. There are many things that the team must prepare before meeting world level teams, especially from a mental perspective. This is often the problem of the Indonesian national team when it comes to world level.

Former Indonesian striker Indriyanto Nugroho did not deny this. According to him, coach Nova Arianto and his team must work hard to prepare for it before they appear in Qatar from November 5 to November 27.

"The road to the future is still long, now complete the event (U-17 Asian Cup) until it's finished, after that, just think about what improvements or evaluations should be made for the World Cup," said Indriyanto.

"The world Cup is not easy, it takes tremendous preparation from a mental perspective, strategy, from a transitional perspective on how to play, what formations will be used, and what strategies will be used," he continued.

Performances at the 2023 U-17 World Cup may be the moment that football lovers remember the most about participating in the national team on the world stage. But at that time, you could say the situation was less than ideal.

Indonesia should host the World Cup at an age of under 20 which was originally scheduled to be held from May 20 to June 11, 2023. However, the host status was canceled by the World Football Federation alias FIFA after a number of groups rejected the presence of the Israeli national team in the tournament.

Indonesia was then chosen to host the U-17 World Cup, which should be Peru's right. The South American country resigned as the host because it was unable to complete the necessary infrastructure.

Through relatively short preparation, the Indonesian national team's steps were stopped in the group stage with two points from three matches. Indonesia was only able to draw against Ecuador and Panama, before finally losing 1-3 to Morocco in the last match.

Football observer Binder Singh agrees with Indriyanto Nugroho's opinion that the Garuda Muda squad must prepare mentally for the 2025 U-17 World Cup.

There will be 48 teams competing in the 2025 U-17 World Cup. Among those who have confirmed tickets to the final round are Brazil, England, Germany, and Italy, which are predicted to be the strength in this tournament.

"The preparation must be much better. When we host, Indonesia is in pot 1 (in the draw) so that the opponent is relatively easier," said Binder.

"Later on at the World Cup there is the potential against giant teams. So coach Nova must prepare mentally really strong," he added.

The U-17 Asian Cup tournament will last until April 20. This means that there is still about six months to prepare the team before flying to Qatar in November.

"We have less preparations for the 2023 World Cup, only about 1.5 months. Now the time is still long, 5-6 months, this is an opportunity for coach Nova and staff to prepare the team," said Indriyanto.

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