The U-22 National Team Trained Without Saddam And Firza Who Underwent The Indonesian Air Force Entrance Test

JAKARTA - The U-22 national team underwent its inaugural training for the 2021 SEA Games on February 2021, Tuesday, February 9 at the Gelora Bung Karno Intermediate Stadium, Jakarta, with the addition of one new player.

Quoted by Antara from the official website of PSSI in Jakarta, Tuesday, the new name is Barito Putera club striker Kahar Kalu Muzakkar.

Kahar, who is 21 years old, was summoned because Saddam Gaffar had not been able to join the squad due to taking the Indonesian Air Force entrance exam.

Apart from Saddam, defender Firza Andika also underwent the Indonesian Air Force test and was forced to be absent despite being summoned. However, PSSI has not provided information on a replacement for Firza.

Thus, the inaugural training for the U-22 national team on the February TC which lasted for 90 minutes starting at 11.00 WIB and led by coach Shin Tae-yong was followed by 35 of the 36 players called in.

According to Shin, in that activity, he still wanted to see the physical fitness of the players, especially from the aspect of stamina.

"In the inaugural training, we gave light menu material and some reinforcement to the players. We are still seeing their condition," he said.

The South Korean tactician asked the players to show their best performance and have an unyielding mentality.

Shin also encouraged the U-19 players in his squad not to be afraid to compete with his seniors.

For information, of the 36 players who participated in the TC on February 8-28 2021, there were several names of U-19 national team players such as Pratama Arhan, Amiruddin Bagas, Braif Fatari, Irfan Jauhari and Erlangga Setyo.

"Even though they are still young, they can definitely be selected for the senior national team if they want to work hard and at the same time provide motivation to others," said Shin.

The 2021 SEA Games are scheduled to take place from November to December in Vietnam. PSSI is targeting a gold medal from this event in order to repeat a similar achievement that was last achieved in 1991.

Based on the SEA Games regulations in 2019, every men's football team must be reinforced by players with a maximum age of 22 years (U-22) and a maximum of two senior players who are over 22 years old.