JAKARTA - Indonesian National Team coach John Herdman said his goal of watching Indonesian League 2 or Championship matches is to hope to find potential young players.
This was said by Herdman after he watched the live match of Group A Championship between Garudayaksa against Persekat Tegal at Pakansari Stadium, Bogor, Saturday.
"It's important to understand what's at the bottom of the first division (Super League) here. It's important to know which young players are emerging. At this level you can see a lot of much younger players. Players who are struggling to push themselves to the next level," said Herdman.
The match was won by the host Garudayaksa with a score of 2-1. Starting with Alfin Kelilaw's goal (24'), Garudayaksa secured the victory in the final minutes through Adittia Gigis' header (89'), after the visiting team previously forced a draw since the 78th minute thanks to Hamdi Sula's goal.
This victory makes Garudayaksa maintain the top of Group A standings with 37 points, one point behind Adhyaksa who is in second place.
The match between Garudayaksa and Persekat was the first Liga 2 match that Herdman watched after previously monitoring several Super League or Liga 1 matches.
"So, I think in the first 10 years of your career it's important to see everything. Every level in the competition and to understand what the structure is like, what the facilities are like, what the intensity is like. So, it's a good experience," said the English coach.
Meanwhile, Garudayaksa player Andik Vermansah admitted that he was surprised to see Herdman's arrival.
He admitted that it was impossible for the Indonesian national team coach to be monitoring his actions, considering his age is not young and also has not been called up to the Garuda team for a very long time.
"Wow, look who it is? It's not possible for me," said the 34-year-old.
Furthermore, he hopes Herdman can find potential young players from his team to defend the national team in the future.
In this case, Andik mentioned the name of one of the goal scorers, Alfin Kelilauw. According to him, the 19-year-old player who this season has bagged one goal and three assists is worth trying to play in the Garuda team.
"I hope from the Garudayaksa team, frankly there are many talented young players. Hopefully it can be tried like that. For example, sorry, Alfin Faiz Kelilauw has a very good prospect in my opinion. God willing, I want Alfin to be able to be in the national team someday," said Andik.
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