Against Japan, PSSI Chairman Alludes To The 1947 Cadet Incident Becomes A Reference For The Motivation Of The Indonesian National Team

JAKARTA - The Indonesian national team will face Japan in the last match of Group D of the 2023 Asian Cup. Given the importance of the results in the party, the General Chairperson (Ketum) of PSSI, Erick Thohir, even mentioned the 1947 Cadet incident as a reference for the motivation of the players.

The Indonesian national team will meet Japan at Al Thumama Stadium, Doha, on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, at 18.30 WIB. This match is very important for the Garuda Squad because it opens up opportunities to qualify for the round of 16.

The condition is that Shin Tae-yong's team can win or at least secure the results of the series over Japan. That way, the Indonesian national team can be ranked third and have a great opportunity to go to the knockout phase through the best third-placed route.

Therefore, Erick Thohir did not want the players to surrender. He wants everyone to continue to do their best even in difficult circumstances. In fact, he alluded to the value of patriotism in the events of the independence period.

"No matter how small the opportunity, we have to fight for it. We have an incident first, when Indonesia was still below the Netherlands, Indonesia was confined," said Erick Thohir, telling the story of an incident on the sidelines of an event in the Sudirman area, Central Jakarta, on Monday, January 22, 2024.

"If you remember Cadet (1947), there was a group of young people flying planes at that time, they could bomb the Dutch again," he said.

"There were values of patriotism at that time with all ministries. The plane used a training plane, you also used your hands. It was considered unable to go home because there was no radar, but it turned out to be able to return," he said.

Erick Thohir wants the Indonesian national team players to be able to bring enthusiasm from this historic event when appearing against Japan. He believes that there is nothing impossible if done with maximum efforts.

"Well, I see young people in the Indonesian national team who are currently on the field, I hope that no matter how small, it is not impossible (to qualify for the last 16 of the 2023 Asian Cup)," he said.

Not just giving advice and messages of encouragement. The chairman of PSSI apparently decided to fly directly to Qatar as a real support for the Garuda Squad in order to achieve maximum results.

"Therefore, I decided to fly (to Qatar) (Monday) tonight. Who knows, I can give more effort to the Indonesian national team so that they can perform at least, as well as they can when they play against Vietnam," said the chairman of PSSI.