Shin Tae-yong Talks About The Possibility Of Maarten Paes Playing When The Indonesian National Team Vs Iraq

Maarten Paes has not been able to join the Indonesia National Team (Instagram/@maartenpaes).

JAKARTA - The coach of the Indonesian national team, Shin Tae-yong, revealed the opportunity for Maarten Paes to be able to appear in the match of the Indonesian vs Iraq national team. According to Shin, until now nothing is certain.

Maarten Paes officially holds the status of an Indonesian citizen (WNI) on April 30, 2024. However, the goalkeeper of the Major League Soccer (MLS) club, FC Dallas, has not yet been included in the list of 22 players called Shin Tae-yong.

The summons itself is for the training camp (TC) agenda ahead of the test match against Tanzania on June 2, 2024.

In addition, preparations for the two 2026 World Cup Qualification matches against Iraq on June 6, 2024 and the Philippines on June 11, 2024.

Of the 22 players who were called, Shin Tae-yong only called two goalkeepers, namely Ernando Ari Sutaryadi from Persebaya Surabaya and Muhammad Adi Satryo from PSIS Semarang.

Regarding Paes' absence from the list of names being called, Shin Tae-yong has an explanation. He also asked fans to pray for the goalkeeper to join immediately.

"Currently (Maarten Paes's chance to play) 50:50 so I can't answer what his certainty looks like. I ask for prayers from fans so that Paes can play immediately," said Shin Tae-yong in a statement quoted on Wednesday, May 29, 2024.

Paes and PSSI are known to still take care of the administrative process to the Sports Arbitration Agency (CAS) even though they have become Indonesian citizens. You see, Paes played for the Dutch U-21 when he was 22 years old.

Paes last strengthened the Dutch U-21 when he appeared for 90 minutes while serving Belarus in the Euro U-21 2021 Qualification on November 5, 2020.