Pratama Arhan Needs Evidence When Appearing For The Indonesian National Team In The 2023 Asian Cup

Pratama Arhan is looking for evidence in the 2023 Asian Cup (doc. PSSI).

Pratama Arhan is one of the players selected to join the Indonesian national team to compete in the 2023 Asian Cup. The selection of the left back had reaped the pros and cons.

Criticism arose considering that Arhan had very minimal playing minutes with the Japanese League Two Division club, Tokyo Verdy.

Therefore, the 22-year-old player is determined to answer Shin Tae-yong's trust in choosing him to join the Indonesian national team.

"Alhamdulillah, coach Shin (Tae-yong) trusted me. So, I must be able to give the best for the Indonesian national team too."

"I have to work harder to give the best results for Indonesia," said Arhan.

Arhan emphasized that he was very ready to appear in the 2023 Asian Cup. However, he revealed that there were still obstacles experienced by the Indonesian national team during the preparation period.

This was a factor in the defeat of the Garuda Squad in three test parties. Shin Tae-yong's team lost twice to Libya with a score of 0-4 and 1-2, then lost against Iran 0-5.

"We are making very good preparations for the Asian Cup as well. Hopefully in the match we can produce the best."

"Then, there must be obstacles. So, we will fix them one by one," said the player from Blora.

"My personal preparation is very good, and my condition is also very good now. I will also follow instructions from coach Shin Tae-yong," said the former Tokyo Verdy player.

Arhan is looking for proof. The problem is, the public considers the left-back election to be inappropriate because it only gets 50 minutes to play at Tokyo Verdy (according to Transfermarkt) before joining the Indonesian national team.

Things are different from the players who actually contribute optimally to the team. They were not even taken by Shin Tae-yong, like Stefano Lilipaly (Borneo FC).

However, Shin Tae-yong had his own views so he kept Arhan in the squad. He considered the 22-year-old player to have a throw-in weapon that could be useful for the Garuda Squad.

Meanwhile, based on performance records, Arhan is the player with the most caps in the Indonesian national team at this time. Arhan scored 38 appearances, ahead of Witan Sulaeman (37), Asnawi Mangkualam Bahar (36), Ricky Kambuaya (34), and Rizky Ridho (29).

The Indonesian national team will start their journey in Group D of the 2023 Asian Cup by facing Iraq on January 15, 2024. Then, they will fight Vietnam (19/1/2024) and Japan (24/1/2024).