Sweet fruit for Indonesian football

Long-term preparation

After a long period of declining performance in Southeast Asia, Indonesian football has started to invest in a generation of talented young players aiming for success at the regional and international levels. First, the Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI) appointed coach Shin Tae-yong to lead the national team, U.23 and U.20 in 2020. The presence of the Korean coach has somewhat changed the face of football in the archipelago when he boldly "changed the blood" of almost the entire national team by trusting many young players in major tournaments such as the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers and AFF Cup 2022. In the list of 20 Indonesian players attending the 32nd SEA Games, there are 10 national players, of which Rizky Ridho, Alfeandra Dewangga, Pratama Arhan, Witan Sulaeman have become indispensable factors in the framework of U.22 team coach Indra Sjafri. These are the players who played in the U.22 Indonesia team at SEA Games 31 under coach Shin Tae-yong.

Young players will help Indonesian football become a formidable force in the region

During his time in charge of the U.23 and U.20 teams, coach Shin Tae-yong had a long-term and thorough plan with training trips to Korea and Europe to help young players gain experience, while also preparing for the U.20 World Cup scheduled to start in May this year. However, Indonesia being stripped of the right to host the U.20 World Cup accidentally became an opportunity for coach Indra Sjafri to have many choices of young talents for the 32nd SEA Games. The names of the Indonesian U.20 team such as Marselino Ferdinan, Ramadhan Sananta, Ananda Raehan, Fajar Fathur Rahman and Muhammad Ferarri all shone at the SEA Games. Of which, Ferdinan, an 18-year-old midfielder playing for KMSK Deinze Club in Belgium, was the inspiration for the attacking play of the U.22 Indonesia and contributed 2 goals; Fajar (5 goals) and Sananta (4 goals) also became the fear of any defense. In particular, according to Antara news agency, the success of U.22 Indonesia and the creation of the "golden generation" had a significant contribution from the clubs in the top 3 national leagues, because this generation of young players was given the opportunity to play regularly.

The Indonesian team will be formidable.

The Indonesian press has highly appreciated the strategic talent and understanding of national football of coach Indra Sjafri because he is currently the Technical Director of PSSI. Not only improving the cohesion in playing style and the spirit of not giving up, which has been the weakness of U.22 Indonesia in recent years, coach Indra Sjafri also maximized the ability of reserve players such as Irfan Jauhari, Jeam Kelly Sroyer and Beckham Putra... to help U.22 Indonesia close this SEA Games with an impressive record, winning all 6 matches, scoring 21 goals and conceding only 5 times.

At the 2023 Asian Cup finals taking place early next year in Qatar, the Indonesian team is in Group D with Vietnam, Japan and Iraq. It is likely that the archipelago team will rely on the key players of the U.22 team that just won the 32nd SEA Games men's football championship, such as goalkeeper Ernando Ari, defenders Rizky Ridho, Pratama Arhan, midfielders Alfeandra Dewangga, Witan Sulaeman and bright young stars Marselino Ferdinan, Ramadhan Sananta, Muhammad Ferarri. These are players who have matured under the guidance of coach Shin Tae-yong after being given the opportunity to compete with the national team in many international tournaments over the past 3 years. Therefore, without good preparation, the Vietnamese team under coach Troussier will face a difficult challenge to overcome.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/hcv-sea-games-32-qua-ngot-cho-bong-da-indonesia-18523051800315232.htm