Indonesian National Team Legend Asks PSSI To Improve Age Group Competitions

JAKARTA - Legend and former captain of the Indonesian National Team, Ferril Raymond Hattu, welcomed the 2023 U-17 World Cup in Indonesia.

This biennial tournament is an important moment for young Indonesian footballers to gain experience and the opportunity to play at world level.

Apart from that, other children who watch the 2023 U-17 World Cup will be motivated and dream of being able to appear there.

"Hosting the U-17 World Cup is clearly very good for Indonesia. Especially for children. This can stimulate their dreams for the future. Maybe it's not visible now, but let's look at the next five or seven years," said Ferril.

So, now it's up to PSSI to provide a good platform for Indonesia's talents to develop. Of course, with the aim of being able to compete at world level.

Ferril emphasized that PSSI must be more serious in working on tiered age group football competitions, not just professional competitions.

The thing is, the regeneration of Indonesian National Team players always starts from the age group. Not surprisingly, Ferril highlighted the Elite Pro Academy (EPA), which accommodates three age group competitions, namely U-16, U-18 and U-20, which he believes needs to be more serious.

"We will look at the EPA, have these children found the right place to increase their flying hours? "In terms of skills, we might be able to compete, but in terms of technique, tactical understanding and physicality we need a lot of improvement," said Ferril.

“I hope the federation doesn't just stop here. The Federation needs to prepare what the future will look like. "After the U-17 World Cup, there must be a focus on creating quality tiered competitions," he said.

Ferril further emphasized that PSSI should not be satisfied with just being the organizer of the U-17 World Cup. There must be follow-up from the coaching side considering that Indonesian football has received the world spotlight.

Moreover, officials in the current federation reportedly have good relations with FIFA. Therefore, the 1991 SEA Games gold medalist really encouraged PSSI to focus on developing young people.

“Erick Thohir (PSSI Chairman) has close relations with FIFA. Exco (PSSI) should also be able to take advantage of this to think about developing youth football."

"If there is no sustainable program, Indonesian football will continue like this without progress. Meanwhile, in the future, the Indonesian national team will need a new generation to be able to compete at the international level."

"In terms of organization, it is very good, Indonesia is able to hold world-class events. The question then is what to take from his football game.”

"The Federation must not stop at the euphoria of holding the U-17 World Cup. They must be able to build a structured and regular coaching system so that our players' technical, physical, mental and tactical understanding is on par with theirs," said Ferril.