Using A Carter Plane, Tomorrow The U-23 National Team Will Go To Cambodia For The AFF Cup

Indonesian national team U-23 (PR PSSI)

JAKARTA — The U-23 Indonesian national team will go to Cambodia to take part in the U-23 AFF Cup tournament. They flew there by charter plane.

Shin Tae-yong's squad leaves Jakarta on Friday, February 11 tomorrow. Garuda troops had to use charter planes because not every day there were flights to Phnom Penh.

"We (PSSI) are grateful to the Garuda airline for helping smooth flights to Phnom Penh," said PSSI Secretary General Yunus Nusi as quoted from the federation's official website.

In addition to the difficulty of getting there, another reason why the U-23 Indonesian national team had to use a charter plane was the COVID-19 situation which had not improved.

This pandemic condition has made many airlines reduce and temporarily suspend flights to Phnom Penh.

Yunus said that the Indonesian national team had to leave early because it followed the regulations that apply there. The regulation requires all teams to be in Cambodia at least four days before the competition.

"The official rule is that the team must be in Cambodia 4 days before the first match. That's why the team will run on February 11," said Yunus.

Before heading to Cambodia, Rahmad Irianto and his friends will first be released by PSSI General Chair Mochamad Iriawan and several PSSI Excos on Friday morning.

Yunus added that at the direction of the PSSI General Chair, this team must be able to defend the championship trophy it won in 2019. Moreover, the majority of the players' materials were filled in by the majority of the 2020 AFF Cup squad.

"That means there is already chemistry between the players," he said.

At the AFF U-23 which will take place from February 14-28, the Garuda Muda squad is in Group B with Laos, Myanmar and Malaysia.

Alfeandra Dewangga and friends will face Laos in the first match on February 15. Then meet Myanmar, February 18, and finally meet arch-enemy, Malaysia, on February 21.