PAN Legislators Hope Indonesia Qualifies For The World Cup After Patrick Kluiver Replaces STY

Member Of The House Of Representatives From The PAN Faction Saleh Partaonan Daulay/DOK PHOTO: Nailin In Saroh-VOI

JAKARTA - Member of the House of Representatives from the PAN faction, Saleh Partaonan Daulay, hopes that the appointment of Patrick Kluivert as national team coach to replace Shin Tae-yong can bring Indonesia to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

"There is a lot of hope that this new coach will hang out on. The most important and priority is how the national team can compete in the 2026 world cup," said Saleh, Thursday, January 9.

According to Saleh, currently Patrick is an asset for the national team. It is hoped that under the tutelage of Patrick, the quality of the national team will increase.

"Accompanied by assistant coaches, local coaches, officials, potential players, and also PSSI administrators, Indonesia is expected to qualify for the world trophy. Not only qualifying, if you can record new achievements in the history of Indonesian football," said the PAN legislator for the electoral district of North Sumatra.

In line with Patrick's appointment, the chairman of Commission VII of the DPR also urged that the national football development budget be raised significantly. Because according to Saleh, the majority of Indonesians are football lovers.

"There is nothing wrong if the football budget is allocated IDR 10 trillion a year," said Saleh.

Saleh believes that President Prabowo Subianto will agree if the Rp10 trillion budget used to finance various needs for football development is seriously and openly described.

"Managing the ball is not cheap. It needs seriousness. We prove it by making a serious budget allocation. Of course, its use must be closely monitored and carefully," said the Deputy PAN.

Saleh understands that some people may say that such a large budget is too high. But if you really want to make achievements at the international level, according to him, the state must want a balanced budget investment.

"Besides, in Indonesia, the achievements of this national team cannot be appreciated with money. There is national pride if the national team makes the highest achievements," he said.

"Just imagine, there may be hundreds of millions of football lovers who will be happy if Indonesia wins. Those who are not football fans are also proud. There is great satisfaction and happiness if we win. Isn't the country's fundamental task is to make the people happy? We are starting to make it happy through the ball," continued Saleh.

Personally, Saleh admitted that he was often sad when he saw the national team losing against other countries. Not infrequently it also creates an attitude of pessimism and apathy.

"Even before playing, we suspected that we would lose. In fact, not against the European football team. Against the Asean football team, we still lose a lot," he said.

"While thinking about it, we really deserve to welcome Patrick Kluiver. We challenge him to make the best achievements for the national team. If successful, his name will also be remembered throughout time. Welcome, Mr. Patrick. Do your best for the Indonesian football team," he concluded.