Praise National Team Players, Jokowi Considers Indonesia To Be Able To Draw Argentina Despite Conceding 2 Goals

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo assessed that the Indonesian national team appeared relatively able to match the Argentine world champion even though they finally had to lose 0-2 in the FIFA Match Day match at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Senayan, Jakarta.

The President expressed pride in the appearance of Asnawi Mangkualam and his friends after watching the match live.

"Very good. I think the hard work of our players is extraordinary," Jokowi told reporters as reported by ANTARA, Monday, June 19.

"We have to see, Argentina is ranked first and we are ranked 149, but we can balance. We are balanced even though we conceded two, but I see we can balance," said the President.

The Head of State hopes that the friendly match against the 2022 World Cup winning team can be a milestone for the revival of Indonesian football.

According to the President, one of these can be pursued by studying and having experience with teams above Indonesia in the FIFA rankings.

"Yesterday with Palestine it was ranked 93 we were able to hold 0-0. Then this is Argentina, once again ranked first, we are 149, we still only conceded two goals, extraordinary," he said.

The President considered the match to be a big experience for the Garuda Squad.

"Because we saw that at the beginning it was a bit nervous, mentally nervous still. But in the second half it was extraordinary, it could compensate, as an experience as well as an evaluation for our national team," said Jokowi.

Indonesia must recognize Argentina's strength and lose 0-2 in the FIFA Match Day match at SUGBK, Monday night, after goal Ernando Ari was scored by Leandro Paredes' long-range shot and Cristian Romero's header.

The result closed the series of FIFA Match Day schedules for the Indonesian national team in June, after previously holding the Palestinian draw with a score of 0-0 at the Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium, Surabaya, Wednesday (14/6) last week.