Indonesian U-22 National Team defeats the war elephants with a 2-1- victory at the Phnom Penh Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia at 26 of February 2019. Thailand strike first in the 57th minute by the captain itself, Saringkan Promsupa. Then Indonesia spent no time to stage an impressive comeback with 2 goals firing from Sani Rizki Fauzi and Osvaldo Haay.

As we all know, this AFF U-22 championship is the 2nd time being hosted after the last edition in 2005 ended in the favor for Thailand. Indonesia is seen as one of the championship’s underdogs because they have suffered a blow in the AFF suzuki cup last year and the match-fixing problems in the nation. But they stunned everyone by winning against the hosts, Cambodia, 2-0. Then they came out victorious against Vietnam after a beautiful free kick by Luthfi Kamal resulting in a 1-0 win. Then, at the final, Indonesia stuns the defending champions Thailand with a 2-1 victory.

Indonesia are definately not the favorites to win the cup because of current football federation problems like the match fixing one and off course the disappointment in the 2018 AFF Suzuki cup which Indonesia can’t even make it to the semifinals. Indonesian president Joko Widodo has also commented on the national team saying that he hopes that this cup will be the starting point of Indonesia’s football glory times. But can they even revive at this point? Nevertheless, lets analysis Indonesia’s preparations for the AFF U-22 championship with head coach Indra Sjafri

The Indonesian U-22 National team has started early preparations under the leadership of coach Indra Sjafri. This was shown at the national team selections, which Coach Indra called lots of players and was reduced to 23 to be bought to the cup. He also said that the current 23 player he bought to the cup are the current best players in Indonesia, and they have been preparing for the cup by playing friendly matches with local clubs which all ended in a draw( Bhayangkara FC 2-2, Arema FC 1-1 and Madura United 1-1). This shows how the Indonesians have been preparing for the AFF U-22 Championship and they regard this championship as a preparation for the AFC U-22 Championship

The Garuda Muda failed to kick off a good start in the AFF U-22 Championship. They drew to Myanmar (1-1) and Malaysia (2-2). Then things started to change on the Indonesian side. They clinched a vital victory against Cambodia (2-0), which gave them the right to enter the semifinals. There they face high flying Vietnam, which gave them a huge fight, but lost anyway (1-0), giving Indonesia a chance of a title shot against Thailand at the final. Then, Indonesia succesfully claim its first AFF U-22 Championship, breaking Thailand’s plan to be the two-time defending champions.

The Indonesian National Football have been involved in many troubles, but this AFF U-22 Championship gave them a reason to revive from this state, making a comeback probably and enter their football glory years. But at this stage, can they make something out of this?