The U-16 Indonesian National Team Faced The Philippines In The 2024 AFF U-16 Cup, Erick Thohir Called The Team With Steel Mental Capital

The U-16 Indonesian national team in the U-16 AFF Cup (doc. PSSI)

JAKARTA - The U-16 Indonesian national team will undergo the second matchday of the 2024 AFF U-16 Cup which will be held in Solo against the Philippines. Ahead of Monday's match, June 24, the Garuda Muda squad has capital that can be a mental reinforcement.

Joined in Group A, the U-16 Indonesian national team brought good capital for a meeting with the Philippines, because in the previous match Nova Irianto's team was indeed 3-0 against Singapore.

Reflecting on the results of the previous match, the General Chairperson (Ketum) of PSSI, Erick Thohir then considered that currently the U-16 Indonesian national team already had a mental steel as capital after successfully beating Singapore.

At that time (against Singapore), the U-16 Indonesian national team had a penalty. If it was a goal, the game could definitely change,"

"Luckily, the goalkeeper was able to hold back the penalty and the young player appeared consistent which made him mentally strong for the next match," said Erick Thohir, alluding to the performance of the national team in the previous match in a statement quoted on Sunday, June 23.

In that match, Erick Thohir also paid attention to the performance of Matthew Baker, who is an Australian player. Erick Thohir said the player had abilities like Pratama Arhan after being thrown deep into it resulted in goals for the team.

There are Indonesian players from Australia, Matthew Baker who stand out. There are also those who went viral as Arhan's successor, number 14, Fabio Azka," he added.

With conditions like this, it is proof that early childhood development is important for Indonesian football. For him, youth development is one of the keys to building a strong Indonesian national team in the future.