JAKARTA The coach of the Japanese futsal national team, Kensuke Takahashi, assessed that the Indonesian futsal national team had experienced a drastic increase since his departure as Garuda's tactician in 2021.

In 2024, Indonesia successfully won the AFF Futsal Cup which was held in Thailand. This achievement marks significant progress for the Garuda team in recent years. In comparison, when Kensuke coached the Indonesian futsal national team, he was only able to bring the team to third and second place in the 2018 and 2019 AFF Futsal Cups.

"About the current Indonesian futsal national team, I worked with several Indonesian Futsal national team players in the current squad, when I coached here, and I saw a drastic increase after I was no longer a coach," said Kensuke at a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday, January 29, the day before the first match at the 4 Nations World Series against Indonesia.

Kensuke also considered that Indonesia would be one of the strong competitors in the 2026 Futsal Asian Cup, especially because they would be the hosts.

"In the 2026 Asian Cup, they can become strong competitors for us, as well as for other strong Asian countries. This cannot be separated from the hard work of Hector, the current Indonesian coach. Thanks to his efforts, the level of the Indonesian national team is increasing," added Kensuke.

For the record, while still training in Indonesia, Kensuke managed to bring the Indonesian U-20 national team to the semifinals of the 2019 U-20 Asian Cup in Iran.

Ahead of the inaugural match of the 4 Nations World Series against Indonesia which will take place on Thursday, January 30 at 18.30 WIB at the Jakarta International Velodrome, Kensuke explained that his team only had two days to prepare.

"Our preparation is only for two days. Our squad this time is a new squad, we have brought many new players," he said.

Despite the short preparation time, Kensuke ensured that his team was still ready to face the tournament and would try to give their best on the pitch.

"We are well prepared in Jakarta, and we are ready to face the tournament later and do our best," concluded Kensuke.


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