Jordi Talks A Lot About Asian Football, Indonesia Will Be At High Level

Jordi Amat admits that the competition in the 2023 Asian Cup is tough (doc. PSSI).

JAKARTA - Jordi Amat admits that the competition in the 2023 Asian Cup, especially for the Indonesian national team, is quite heavy. Moreover, the Garuda squad is in Group D along with two winning candidates, Iraq and Japan.

Iraq has never missed the Asian Cup finals in the last seven editions. In that range, they won one time.

Their performance in the seven editions was the worst in reaching the round of 16. This means that Iraq has always passed the group stage in the last seven Asian Cup events.

Shifted to Japan. The Blue Samurai are the most successful team in the Asian Cup with the most titles, namely four trophies.

They have never been absent in the last nine editions of the Asian Cup. Japan has also always qualified for the knockout stages in eight of them. The only Japanese failure to the knockout stages occurred in the 1988 edition of Qatar.

Jordi Amat agrees that his opponents are tough, except for Vietnam, a fellow Southeast Asian team who was defeated by the Indonesian national team on Friday, January 19, 2024.

However, Jordi Amat saw a positive side competing against high-profile teams such as Iraq and Japan.

He believes that one day the Indonesian national team will be at the same level, especially Japan and South Korea, which are currently in the spotlight of the world and regularly appear in the World Cup.

"This tournament (the 2023 Asian Cup) is extraordinary. The level is already high. Teams like Japan and South Korea in particular, they have done extraordinary things in 15 or 20 years ago. So, now they are at the top level (in Asia)."

"We (Indonesian national team) always grow every day. We continue to grow and continue. One day, our football will also (be at a high level)," said Jordi Amat.

Jordi Amat then compared Asian and European football. He has his own views considering being born and raised in Spanish football.

As is known, the 31-year-old defender forged football in Espanyol's youth before a professional career at various European clubs, such as Rayo Vallecano, Swansea City, and Real Betis.

In fact, Jordi had defended the Spanish national team age group, ranging from U-16, U-17, U-18, U-19, U-20, to U-21.

Apparently, according to Jordi, Asian football has grown very rapidly and has been able to compete with European teams.

More specifically, he said the ASEAN state teams also showed positive progress. He knows this when playing for the Malaysian Super League team, Johor Darul Tazim.

"I've been playing in Europe for a long time. I see some differences (with Asian football). European football talks a lot about tactics. How all teams think about controlling the ball well."

"When I moved to Southeast Asia, it certainly became a challenge for me. Quite different, especially when playing at Johor Darul Tazim. Good moment playing with JDT."

"I hope the Indonesian national team can copy a lot of good things from European football so that we can develop better. In the end, it can be like Japan and South Korea," said Jordi Amat.

Jordi Amat and the Indonesian national team still have one tough match left in Group D of the 2023 Asian Cup. The Garuda squad will play the group's last match against Japan on January 24, 2024.

The Indonesian national team will appear desperately in order to make a new history to qualify for the knockout stages of the Asian Cup for the first time.