Shin Tae-yong Reveals Reasons For Dismantling Players In The Indonesian National Team Trial Match

Shin Tae-yong leads the TC Indonesian national team in Turkey (doc. PSSI).

JAKARTA - The Indonesian national team coach, Shin Tae-yong, revealed the reason for the dismantling of players carried out in the test match against Libya.

The Indonesian national team faced Libya in the inaugural test match ahead of appearing in the 2023 Asian Cup. The party, which was held intensive Mardan, Turkey, ended 0-4 for Libya's victory.

In this trial match, Shin Tae-yong did tamper with the formation structure to try out many players.

The South Korean coach even made changes to 10 players at once except for goalkeeper Syahrul Trisna at the beginning of the second half.

"The reason I played 10 players in the first and second half was because their arrivals were different."

"Some came on January 1, 2024, some came on December 27, 2023. Some came on December 20, 2023," said Shin Tae-yong in a virtual press conference on Wednesday, January 3, 2024.

During the TC agenda and trials in Turkey, the Garuda Squad was not directly strengthened by 28 players. In fact, Justin Hubner, Sandy Walsh, and Elkan Baggott only joined in early January 2024.

Especially for Hubner, Shin Tae-yong even played him for 45 minutes in a test match against Libya. However, the player even made two blunders that led to Libya's second and third goals.

Regarding the final result, the coach emphasized that the focus in this trial match was mainly to see the condition of all players.

"For players who come from December 20, 2023, physical training continues. I don't see the score and what the content of the match is, but just check the condition of the players. That's why I play all the players," he said.

After this test match, the Indonesian national team will continue their training camp in Turkey in preparation for appearing in the 2023 Asian Cup. Two other test matches will also be played by the Garuda Squad, namely against Libya on January 5, 2024 and Iran on January 9, 2024.