Shin Tae-yong Present In The North Maluku Vs Persebaya Match, Monitor Players For The Indonesian National Team?

JAKARTA - The Indonesian national team coach, Shin Tae-yong, was present in the North Maluku United vs Persebaya Surabaya match in the second week of Liga 1 2024/2025.

The presence of the South Korean coach at the Madya Stadium, Friday, August 16, 2024, is strongly suspected to be monitoring the Indonesian national team players.

Shin Tae-yong was seen coming with several of his assistants and translators. Taking the VIP trubun, Shin Tae-yong and his assistant were seen several times photographing the match and recording what he saw on the pitch.

The presence of the coach has a great opportunity to target players to enter the Indonesian national team squad. Currently, the Garuda Squad is preparing to appear in the Third Round of the 2026 Asian Zone World Cup Qualification.

The Indonesian national team will start the qualifying match by traveling to Saudi Arabia's headquarters on September 6, 2024, early morning WIB. The next match against Australia will be the home match of the Indonesian national team at SUGBK on September 10, 2024.

In the match he attended today, Shin Tae-yong also monitored several players who he often called to the Indonesian national team, such as Yakob and Yance Sayuri and Ernando Ari from the Persebaya camp.

Commenting on this match, the South Korean coach said the game of the two teams was difficult to develop because playing time was considered not ideal because the weather was quite hot.

"Indeed, in the hot weather at 15.30 WIB for the players, it was very difficult. They suffered for sure because the weather was very hot," said Shin Tae-yong on the sidelines of his activities monitoring the match.

"Maybe it's better if the match is at 19.00 or 19.30 WIB. However, I saw the match, the players worked hard and ran a lot too," he said.

However, he saw the game of clubs in Indonesia, including today's match between North Maluku vs Persebaya, having better quality.

"Indonesia's league is starting to change and the quality is getting better," he said.

The Indonesian national team is in Group C of the Third Round of Qualification for the 2026 World Cup. They will face Saudi Arabia, Australia, Japan, China, and Bahrain.