Maarten Paes Absent From Defending The Indonesian National Team In The 2024 AFF Cup Even Though MLS Is On Vacation

The goalkeeper for the naturalization of the Indonesian national team, Maarten Paes, is confirmed to be absent from strengthening the team when appearing in the 2024 AFF Cup from December 202 to January 2025.

In fact, during that period, Major Soccer League (MLS) where his club, FC Dallas, is on holiday.

The absence of Maarten Paes was reported by the General Chairperson (Ketum) of PSSI, Erick Thohir. He revealed the reason for not calling Paes because the goalkeeper needed time off after a long season.

"I think Maarten Paes has struggled a long time. He wants to vacation in Bali with his girlfriend who is a supermodel," said Erick Thohir in a statement quoted Monday, November 25, 2024.

The decision was explained by Erick Thohir because according to him, the players also needed a break for physical and mental recovery after going through a busy competition schedule.

"Players are not robots. They need time to recover after competing for nine months or a full year."

"A month or two off is normal. I don't want to force players who are on vacation because the risk could be injured," said Erick again.

The 2024 AFF Cup or ASEAN Championship 2024 will start rolling from 9 December 2024 to 5 January 2025. In the tournament, the Indonesian national team is in Group B with Vietnam, the Philippines, Myanmar, and Laos.

On that agenda, Shin Tae-yong's Garuda squad certainly appeared with a different composition from the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.

The South Korean coach will rely more on the young players, the majority of whom come from League 1 clubs.