Rizky's Kafiatur, Indonesia's Secret Weapon U-19

JAKARTA - Muhammad Kafiatur Rizky became the subject of discussion along with his appearance with the U-19 Indonesian National Team in the 2024 AFF U-19 Cup.

He became the king of team assists with a collection of four in three Group A matches.

Even though he got off the bench in the first two matches, Kafiatur turned out to be a secret weapon for Garuda Muda.

Usually, he threatens when taking a corner kick. With his left foot, his shot was accurate to two centre-backs, Iqbal Gwijangge or Kadek Arel.

No wonder, three of its four assists came from corner kicks. Two opening assists were born when Indonesia U-19 minheap Cambodia U-19 in the group's second match.

Garuda Muda struggled to score a goal until entering the 80th minute. However, Kafiatur's corner changed the match.

Through this scheme, Kafiatur provided assists to Kadek Arel and Iqbal Gwijangge to win the 2-0 match.

Appearing as an important player in two matches from the bench made Indra Sjafri start to trust Kafiatur. He then got the opportunity to start in the last match of the Timor Leste U-19 contract group.

It was in that match the next two assists were created. The first assist came from an open play scheme.

He sent a direct pass into the penalty box which was immediately greeted by Jens Raven's flick.

Kafiatur did not stop contributing. His corner kick returned to assist after being converted by Kadek Arel into a goal through a header.

In fact, in the party Kafiatur came out as Man of the Match. Apart from the two assists, the 18-year-old midfielder also scored a beautiful goal.

The last goal in the 6-2 win was scored with a canon ball from outside the penalty box.

"Alhamdulillah, I can get Man Of The Match. I am still trusted by the coach to play in this championship," said Kafiatur.

Kafiatur was also reluctant to be happy when he stole the attention with an impressive graphic.

"Yes, I hope that in the future I can be more consistent and continue to work hard and we are even more compact. Hopefully in the future we can focus more on it," he said.

Kafiatur became Indonesia's secret weapon in the 2024 AFF U-19 Cup. He was able to answer his trust when appearing as a starter and was able to be a differentiator by breaking the deadlock when he got off the bench.

Artibut's accuracy of passes is something that puts forward this South Tangerang-born player.

Its existence in the second line of Garuda Muda made the team solid in building attacks.

Football Talents From His Father

Who would have thought that Rizky's Kafiatur flowed from football from his father, Firmansyah, who had defended Persija and Persikota Tangerang.

His football career began when he joined the football school belonging to the Indonesian national team legend, Firman Utina, namely Bina Setra in 2016.

The Borneo FC youth team was then interested in recruiting him after a year at Bina Setra. Kafiatur also played for Borneo FC U-16 at the Elite Pro Academy.

About seven years of studying in the team from Samarinda, Kafiatur then moved to his homeland as a loan player.

He joined Dewa United Banten in 2023. However, due to lack of playing time, Kafiatur decided to return to Borneo FC in June 2024.

Shifting to the level of the national team, Kafiatur had tested the Indonesia U-15 selection in 2021. Since then, he has always participated in the Indonesia U-15, U-16, and U-17 training camps.

Kaifatur finally tasted a debut with Garuda Muda in the 2022 AFF U-16 Cup. Under the tutelage of the Milky Way, the midfielder has a prominent contribution to bring Indonesia U-16 champion.

Unfortunately, he did not have the opportunity to defend Indonesia U-17 at the 2023 U-17 World Cup. Kafiatur lost to compete with players of Ji Da Bin descent in midfield.

However, now is the opportunity to make Merah-White come back. In contrast to last year, Ji Da Bin's declining performance made Kafiatur get a place.

At its peak, he made coach Indra Sjafri attracted when appearing at the Maurice Revello Tournament 2024 or Toulon Cup in March 2024.

In the end, Kafiatur was also included in the Indonesian U-19 squad at the 2024 AFF U-19 Cup. Now, he is ready to be a differentiator again with the target of bringing Indonesia U-19 to win the tournament named another ASEAN Championship U-19.