Yeom Ki-hun Recruited To Be Shin Tae-yong's Assistant In The Indonesian National Team

Yeom Ki-hun, Shin Tae-yong's new assistant coach (Instagram/@kihun_yeom_26).

Yeom Ki-hun officially became Shin Tae-yong's assistant coach to handle the Indonesian national team. PSSI through the General Chair (Ketum), Erick Thohir, had a reason to recruit the 41-year-old coach.

Erick said that Yeom Ki-hun was appointed to help Shin Tae-yong. The reason is, the Garuda Squad still has weaknesses in converting opportunities in a number of matches.

"To strengthen the Indonesian national team, we must strengthen the team, medical, coaches. As for the coach, one of our weaknesses is when we play several times against Iraq, we cannot score goals, but have conceded twice," said Erick Thohir in Jakarta quoted on Wednesday, August 7, 2024.

"So how to improve the quality of goalkeepers and strikers? Yes with a better coach. Our goalkeeper coach is good, now Shin Tae-yong is adding a striker coach," he said.

The decision to recruit Yeom was not without reason. The coach's background is quite classy. Yeom is a former South Korean national team player who appeared in the 2006-2018 era.

This 41-year-old man made 57 appearances and collected five goals. Yeom is also a former coach of Suwon FC.

When Shin Tae-yong coached the South Korean national team in 2017-2018, Yeom was still active as a player who was one of the choices of the Taegeuk Warriors winger.

The decision to recruit this assistant coach was made by PSSI as maximum effort ahead of the Indonesian national team's struggle in the Third Round of 2026 World Cup Qualification in the Asian Zone starting September 2024.

On that agenda, the Garuda Squad is in Group C with Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and China.

On September 6, 2024, Indonesia will fight Saudi Arabia in Riyadh. Then, on September 10, 2024, they host Australia at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Senayan, Jakarta.