Indonesian U-22 National Team midfielder, Rivaldo Pakpahan, apologized to the public for failing to qualify for the 2025 SEA Games semifinals. He also conveyed a message from the Garuda Muda squad manager, Sumardji.
The Indonesian U-22 national team must accept reality after failing to qualify for the 2025 SEA Games semifinals.
The Young Garuda squad could only finish in the runner-up position of Group C after losing 0-1 to the Philippines and winning 3-1 against Myanmar.
Ivar Jenner and his friends did indeed win against Myanmar in the group stage match.
However, that victory was unable to help the Young Garuda squad in this biennial event.
This is because they failed to finish in the best runner-up position, and the Indonesian U-22 National Team lost to Malaysia.
The team nicknamed the “Malayan Tigers” is more deserving of a spot in the 2025 SEA Games semifinals because they have a superior goal difference over the “Young Garuda” squad.
For that reason, Rivaldo Pakpahan and his friends, who came to Thailand as the 2025 SEA Games champions, failed completely.
They couldn’t even meet the government’s target of winning a silver medal, let alone defend the gold medal.
After this failure, Rivaldo Pakpahan apologized to the public because the Red and White team failed to meet its target.
“Perhaps in the future, I can work harder to defend the country,” said Rivaldo Pakpahan to the media crew, including at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Tangerang, Saturday (12/13/2025).
“We apologize to the entire community for not being able to give our best for Indonesia,” he said.
The 22-year-old player admitted that it wasn’t just the public who were disappointed.
The Borneo FC player admitted that the players were also disappointed because they failed to advance to the SEA Games 2025 semifinals.
According to him, the locker room was of course filled with disappointment, as the team had to pack their bags earlier.
“Must be disappointed. All the players must be disappointed. But yes, surely, in my opinion,” said Rivardo Pakpahan.
The failure of the Young Garuda squad in the 2025 SEA Games is indeed very disappointing.
This even becomes the worst record, as for the first time the Indonesian U-22 National Team failed to qualify for the semifinals after 16 years.
This situation has naturally made all the players feel disappointed due to a complete failure in this biennial event.
For that, after this failure, Rivaldo Pakpahan revealed the message given by the Indonesian U-22 National Team manager, Sumardji.
According to him, Sumardji asked the players to remain spirited and not give up.
The players are reminded to work even harder because they are still young.
With the hope that the future will also be better, so all players are expected to train even harder.
“If the message from Mr. Mardji is anything, it’s that we have to keep our spirits up because we are still young, and perhaps move forward with more serious training,” Rivaldo said about Sumardji’s message.
After that failure, Rivaldo promised to work even harder in the future.
With the hope of making the Red and White team better in the future.
“Of course, we will definitely speak loudly in training, and then also keep Indonesia proud,” he explained.
