U-17 National Team Captain's Request: Spectators Fulfill Stadium To Become 12th Players

JAKARTA - The captain of the U-17 Indonesian national team, Muhammad Iqbal Gwijangge, has a special request to football lovers in the country ahead of the 2023 U-17 World Cup. He wants the audience to be a terror for the opposing team.

The U-17 national team is in Group A with Ecuador, Panama, and Morocco. For this group, all group stage matches will be held at the Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium (GBT), Surabaya as home base.

The inaugural match of the U-17 national team will take place on November 10 and the first opponent to face is Ecuador. Ahead of the match, Iqbal revealed that the team needed the support of the audience to make the opponent mentally tremble.

"Because we play at home, I hope everyone (supporters) can be fully present at the stadium because it will give nervousness to the opponent because of the roar of the stadium," said Iqbal Gwijangge in a statement quoted Wednesday, November 8.

According to Iqbal, although the experience of Ecuadorian players Panama and Morocco is better than Indonesia, he believes that at the age of 17 years on average, the pressure of supporters will be very influential.

"Maybe it (the audience) will have an effect, because the match will run with high intensity. So I ask for prayers and support from all Indonesian people, (either) those who are present at the stadium or those who watch at home," Iqbal continued.

The U-17 World Cup 2023 will take place from November 10 to December 2. Apart from GBT, the event will be held at the Jakarta International Stadium or JIS (Jakarta), Si Jalak Harupat Stadium (Bandung) and Manahan Stadium (Solo).