Beckham Wants To Imitate Zola

Illustration - Beckham Putra (center) fighting over the ball with Hong Kong U-19 National Team player Cheng Chun Wang Ryan (right) (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Persib midfielder Beckham Putra Nugraha wants to bring the Indonesian U-23 national team to win the 2022 AFF U-23 Cup, imitating his older brother, Gian Zola, who did it in 2019.

"My brother's achievements are my own motivation," said Beckham, quoted by Antara from the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) TV Youtube channel in Jakarta, Wednesday.

Gian Zola helped Indonesia win the AFF U-22 Cup in 2019. At that time, the tournament, which will be titled the next edition of the AFF U-23 Cup, took place in Cambodia.

In 2022, a similar competition was held again in Cambodia and Beckham Putra was called by coach Shin Tae-yong to be included in the list of 29 players who underwent training camps (TC) in Bali.

Already in the Garuda Muda squad, Beckham is determined to fill a place in the main team that will compete in the 2022 AFF U-23 Cup. This is because a maximum of 28 players are entitled to appear in the tournament.

"I want to enter the main squad and bring Indonesia to become a champion. I want to make Indonesia proud," said Beckham.

Meanwhile, regarding the opportunity for Indonesia to become the tournament at the event, the 20-year-old footballer assesses the potential to go there is quite large.

This is because the Indonesian team is filled with players with good quality and evenly on every line.

"The composition of the players is even, the difference is not too much. In this squad there are very many quality players who can really bring Indonesia to win the AFF U-23 Cup. We are motivated for that," said Beckham.

The 2022 AFF U-23 Cup will take place in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on February 14-26, 2022.

In that tournament, Indonesia was in Group B with Malaysia, Myanmar and Laos.

The "Garuda Muda" squad will have their first match on February 15 against Laos. Furthermore, three days later, Indonesia meets Myanmar and faces Malaysia on February 21, 2022.

Indonesia has the status of the defending champion of the U-23 AFF Cup after winning it in 2019. However, at that time the tournament competed with players aged a maximum of 22 years or U-22.