The Indonesian U-20 national team managed to defeat Timor Leste 3-1 in the 2025 U-20 Asian Cup Qualifiers at the Madya Stadium, Jakarta, Friday (27/9).
The Garuda Muda team appeared to dominate throughout the match. However, Timor Leste is not without resistance. The visiting team managed to trouble the Indonesian U-20 National Team through a counterattack.
Indonesia took a 1-0 lead through Jens Raven in the 13th minute. Taking advantage of Alfahrezi Buffon’s pull pass, Raven’s first kick was blocked by goalkeeper Pablo Macario. But, Raven managed to use the rebound ball to score. 1-0 for Garuda Muda
It didn’t take long for Indonesia to double the 2-0 advantage. In the 16th minute, a pull pass from Toni Firmansyah was easily passed by Riski Afrisal to score a goal with a shot.
The score of 2-0 for the Indonesian U-20 national team lasted until the end of the first half.
At the beginning of the second half, Indra Sjafri made three substitutions. Figo Dennis, Maouri Ananda and Muhamad Ragil entered. The substitution made the Indonesian U-20 National Team dominate the game and attack again. However, the slick defense from Timor Leste, plus Indonesia’s hurried play, the Garuda team failed to add goals.
Indonesia’s goal almost conceded in the 55th minute. Luis Figo Ribeiro escaped the offside trap and took advantage of Indonesia’s defensive carelessness. But, Ikram made an important save by blocking the Timor Leste striker’s kick.
Luis Figo finally really punished Indonesia in the 66th minute. Apart from Indonesia’s high defensive control, Luis Figo then deceive Iqbal Gwijangge and broke into Ikram’s goal with a horizontal kick into the left corner of the goal. The score became 2-1 for Indonesia.
A good mentality was shown by the Indonesian U-20 National Team. Timor Leste’s goal did not make the Garuda Muda team panic. In the 73rd minute, Figo Dennis almost scored the third goal for Indonesia after his kick only hit the crossbar after receiving a pass from Dony Tri Pamungkas.
Indonesia finally managed to score the third goal in the 78th minute. Muhamad Ragil easily cheated the ball into an empty goal after receiving Dony’s cross from the left side.
The Indonesian U-20 national team again almost scored in the 90th minute through Maouri Ananda after receiving Dony Tri’s corner. However, the opportunity failed to come to fruition. The score of 3-1 for Indonesia lasted until the end of the match.
