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Indonesia’s under-20 national team lost 0-2 to Jordan on Wednesday, November 11, in a friendly at the Amir Complex Stadium in Antalya, Turkey. Laith Al-Rabee scored for Jordan in the 42nd minute, and Mohammed Abu Musharraf added a second in the 47th, just after half-time.
The Jordan Football Association’s official match report was blunt: Jordan “deserved to win” a game it described as “tough from start to finish”. Indonesian players have accepted the defeat. The search “indonesia vs yordania” spiked on Google Trends as fans followed the news.
The context: a team preparing for Asia
The match was part of a training camp (TC) for coach Nova Arianto’s squad as it prepares for the 2027 AFC U-20 Asian Cup, for which Indonesia has already qualified. It was also the first time brothers Mathew and Joshua Baker played together for the U-20 team. Joshua joined last month’s camp in China, but Mathew did not. Theo Leeming, Zahaby Gholy and Fabio Azka also featured. Indonesian football is in a confident mood after the senior team won the FIFA ASEAN Cup under John Herdman last month, and Nova is reported to be working closely with Herdman on player development.
My view: losing to Jordan in November is useful
Indonesian football fans tend to treat every friendly result as either glory or disaster. This one is neither.
Jordan is a strong opponent. The senior team reached the 2023 Asian Cup final and the country has built a disciplined, physical youth system. Losing narrowly to Jordan in a closed training-camp match, while trying out new combinations, is the kind of game a team should want in November ahead of a tournament next year. Asian Cup group matches will be played against sides like this, not against the regional teams Indonesia usually beats.
What should Nova take from it? Three things stand out from the available reports.
- The goals came at key moments, one just before half-time and one just after it. Those are periods when young teams lose concentration. That is a coaching issue that can be fixed.
- Bringing in overseas-based and diaspora players such as the Bakers and Leeming is promising, but they need time to build understanding with the domestic players. Friendlies are where that happens.
- Detail matters. Indonesian supporters were left relying on photos and the Jordanian federation’s website to find out who played. PSSI should publish line-ups and short match notes for every national-team friendly. Fans who follow these teams so closely deserve that much.
A senior Asian Cup or World Cup squad is built from players who have lost games like this at 19 and learned from them. I would be more worried if Garuda Muda had only played weaker teams.
