Persebaya Goalkeeper Sambut Positive Maarten Paes And Cyrus Margono

Maarten Paes jadi WNI (ANTARA/Ho/PSSI)

Persebaya goalkeeper Andhika Ramadhani has his own opinion regarding the arrival of a number of diaspora players to Indonesia. As a fellow goalkeeper, he positively welcomed the decision of the Dallas FC goalkeepers, Maarten Paes and Cyrus Margono from Panathinaikos B who had officially become Indonesian citizens (WNI). Dhika supports this step if it is considered a good decision to bring the Indonesian national team (timnas) in a positive direction.

"Personally, if I am indeed one of the best for the Indonesian national team, there is no problem, as a community, supporting what PSSI is doing," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Saturday, May 4. In addition, he assessed that what the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) was doing was not just good.

"Because PSSI did it not just for spree, he wanted to make the Indonesian national team stronger in international events," he said. Previously, two goalkeepers from the United States and Greek clubs officially became Indonesian citizens after participating in the oath-taking procession at the Regional Office (Kanwil) of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkumham) DKI Jakarta. The goalkeeper who played in the second caste of the Greek League with Panathinaikos B Cyrus Margono took the oath first on March 21. Meanwhile Maarten Paes, the goalkeeper belonging to the United States Major League Soccer (MLS) club FC, did the same thing on April 30.

However, Cyrus did not undergo the naturalization process. The goalkeeper with a height of 1.91 meters just has to be given the status of an Indonesian citizen because he used to have an Indonesian Identity Card (KTP), but when he wanted to get a passport, his application was rejected. This is because the status of his Indonesian citizen has been delayed because he has not determined his citizenship after passing the maximum age limit of 21 years because he is a child who has mixed blood and was born abroad.

Cyrus was the goalkeeper born in Mount Kisco, New York, United States on November 9, 2001. Cyrus has Indonesian blood from her father. While her mother is Iranian. Meanwhile, Maarten Paes continues to undergo the naturalization and oath-taking process as an Indonesian citizen led by the Head of the Regional Office Andika Dwi Prasetya.

Thus, Maarten has a great chance to strengthen Indonesia in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in the second round of Asia zone against Iraq on June 6 and the Philippines on June 12 at home. However, for approximately one month towards the two final matches of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Maarten had to meet several conditions to be able to appear in defense of the Red and White, one of which was waiting for the results of the trial at the Sports Arbitration Court (CAS) because Maarten had defended the Dutch U-21 national team in the 2021 U-21 European Cup when he was 22 years old. This contradicts FIFA regulations that a player can change and play for other national teams if he is under 21 years old at the last time playing, either in the junior team or in seniors in official matches. If everything goes well, then the goalkeeper whose grandmother was born in Pare, Kediri, East Java has the opportunity to enliven the Garuda goal post in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers which is currently often filled by Ernando Ari Sutaryadi.