REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia national coach Shin Tae-yong confirmed that his players who have had careers in European competitions have helped Garuda's performance so far. This was stated by Shin at a press conference on Wednesday (4/9/2024), ahead of the opening match of Group C in the third round of the 2026 Asian Zone World Cup Qualifier against Saudi Arabia at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah Friday (6/9/2024) in the early morning at 01:00pm.
The achievements of the Indonesian national team began when they broke through the top 16 of the 2023 Asian Cup, reached the semifinals of the 2024 U-23 Asia Cup, and played in the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification of the Asian zone.
“I can say that the players who played in Europe, honestly helped the performance of our team a lot,” the South Korean coach said.
Currently, of the 26 players he has called up for the opening two matches of the third round, there are 10 names grazing in European competition. From England, there is Justin Hubner in the youth team of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Then there are two names who graze in the Championship Division or the second caste of the English League, namely Nathan Tjoe-A-On at Swansea City and Marselino Ferdinan at Oxford United.
In the Dutch Eredivise, there was Calvin Verdonk with NEC Nijmegen. Then, from the second caste there was Ivar Jenner in Jong Utrecht and Rafael Struick in ADO Den Haag.
Ragnar Oratmangoen at FCV Dender and Sandy Walsh at KV Mechelen became representatives in Belgium. There is also one name in division two which is Shayne Pattynama at KAS Eupen. Lastly, there's Jay Idzes who plays in Italy's Serie A with Venezia.
In addition to those names, there is Thom Haye who in the last season performed consistently at Heerenveen, but has yet to get a new club. Shin said the players who grazed on the blue continent had greatly helped improve the performance of Garuda's team.
“Of course we have players coming from there, they have better physicality and tactics and understanding and technical things,” explained the 53-year-old coach.
Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika