Erick Thohir: This Time It's The Big 16, Next Must Be Higher

Erick Thohir (Michael Siahaan)

PSSI General Chair Erick Thohir is grateful for Indonesia's success in advancing to the last 16 of the 2023 Asian Cup and he has confidence that on the next occasion the Indonesian teams will achieve higher achievements. "It's like, if this is the big 16, and that's history, then it must be higher next," said Erick Thohir, who directly watched the national team's struggle in Qatar, Antara, Sunday, January 28. The Red and White national team failed to advance to the quarter-finals of the Qatar 2023 Asian Cup after in the last 16 they surrendered 4-0 from Australia at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Qatar, Sunday. However, in the view of the PSSI General Chair, Erick Thohir, many learnings were obtained to improve the quality of the senior national team in the future. "This means that the team, which is mostly young, has played four matches with opponents who have the above qualities. There is experience that is obtained, there is a mentality whose level should rise because it fights strong teams such as Japan, Iraq, and Australia. This is good capital," said Erick. In the historic match for Indonesia, the national team was left behind, 0-2 in the first half after Red and White defender Elkan Baggot scored an own goal in the 12th minute and Australians, Boyle added a goal in the 45th minute. The Kangaroo team increased the number of goals at the end of the second half through two players, airing and Souttar. The main thing that makes Erick optimistic about the future of Shin Tae-yong's team is because the Indonesian team is listed as the youngest team participating in the 2023 Asian Cup. The oldest player in the Indonesian squad today is Jordi Amat with 31 years. While the youngest player is Marselino Ferdinand with 19 years and 2 months. Based on Transfermarkt data, the average age of players who defend the Indonesian national team in the 2023 Asian Cup is 22.5 years as of January 9, 2024. The second position is Vietnam with an average of 23.3 years old. Then, the Japanese player was 23.7 years old. After that there was Uzbekistan with an average player age of 23.9 years.

"The capital of young age with additional experience in the Asian Cup should be a bigger achievement in the upcoming Asian Cup. I hope that defeat to Australia does not need to be complicated. There is still an achievement target that must be shown for players and coaches," said Erick.