Not Afraid Of Vietnam! The Indonesian Football Association Is Confident That The U-23 Indonesian National Team Will Get A Gold Medal At The 2021 SEA Games Because It Has Qualified Material

PSSI General Chair, Mochamad Iriawan. (PSSI Doc)

JAKARTA – The Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) General Chair Mochamad Iriawan is confident that the U-23 Indonesian national team can win gold at the 2021 SEA Games Hanoi. This belief is supported by the material of the players selected for the event.

The coach of the U-23 Indonesian national team, Shin Tae-yong, had previously summoned 29 players to participate in preparations for the biennial celebration on Wednesday, April 6. The players who are called up will later undergo a training camp in South Korea.

"We hope that with good preparation, the Indonesian national team can win the 2021 SEA Games. With these players who are called up and always work hard, be disciplined and focused, the PSSI is sure that this (gold medal) will be achieved," said Iriawan on the PSSI website.

Shin Tae-yong is currently in South Korea to carry out a training program with the U-19 national team. For that, 29 names called will follow him there to prepare for Hanoi.

The Korean coach has a tough task facing this year's SEA Games. He is targeted to bring home a gold medal to treat the 31 years of gold famine of the Indonesian national team in the Southeast Asian region.

With a fairly heavy target, Shin also asked for a training camp to be held in Korea. There the team will undergo a number of trials with local teams to finalize preparations to meet the targets demanded by the national football federation.

"We continue to support the coach coach Shin Tae-yong's program for the achievement of the Indonesian national team. Of course while in South Korea they will undergo a number of test matches," said the figure who is familiarly called Iwan Bule.

In this summons there were four senior players, namely Fachruddin Aryanto, Irfan Jaya, Marc Klok, and Ricky Kambuaya. In addition, the names of players who played abroad were also called, such as Elkan Baggott, Egy Maulana, Witan Sulaeman, Saddil Ramdani, and Pratama Arhan.

Indonesia last won gold at the SEA Games in 1991 when it was held in Manila, Philippines. Meanwhile, in the previous edition in 2019, Indonesia brought home silver after losing to Vietnam in the final match.

For this year, Indonesia is in Group A with hosts Vietnam, Myanmar, the Philippines and Timor Leste. In the inaugural group stage match on May 6, the Red and White squad will directly face the host.