Indonesia has finally succeeded in advancing to the Asian Cup which will be held in June, 2023. This achievement is certainly very proud for the Indonesian public, considering that the last time Indonesia participated in the Asian Cup tournament was in 2007 or about 15 years ago. In 2007, Indonesia did act as one of the hosts of the Asian Cup, so that the Garuda National Team automatically became a participant in the biggest inter-country football event in Asia.
The success of the Indonesian national team qualifying for the Asian Cup this year is certainly a proud achievement that has not been achieved in quite a long time. Previously, Indonesia always had difficulties when facing teams from Asian countries such as countries from the Middle East. Our memory is still quite clear considering the time when the Indonesian national team was massacred 10-0 by one of the teams from the middle east, namely Bahrain.
In the Asian Cup qualifiers in 2023, the Garuda National Team joined in Group A of the Asian Cup Qualifications with Kuwait, Jordan and Nepal. Indonesia finally managed to occupy the runner-up group under Jordan with a total of 6 points from the results of 2 wins and 1 loss. The difference in the total goal margin of 7 made Indonesia successfully qualify as the best Runner Up along with Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong.
The biggest credit for the successful passage of the Indonesian National Team to the Asian Cup, of course, cannot be separated from the role of the Head Coach of the Indonesian National Team, Shin Tae-Yong. The figure of the man from South Korea who makes the Indonesian national team game grow in every match. The non-technical aspects that Shin Tae-Yong instilled in the players also played a big role in the progress of the team’s development. One of them is the discipline aspect. During his tenure as a coach in Indonesia, not a few players were later dropped by Shin Tae-Yong from the squad due to disciplinary cases.
Shin Tae-Yong is not an ordinary coach, his career report card as a coach is quite classy. The moment that the public may remember the most is how at the 2018 World Cup, Shin Tae-Yong, who at that time coached the South Korean national team, defeated the 2014 World Champion Team, Germany. Although in the end South Korea failed to qualify for the next round at the World Cup. At club level, the man who was born in Yeongdeok South Korea previously managed Seongnam FC in 2008, which then won the Asian Champions League title in 2010 and also the Korean Cup the following year.
On 28 September 2019, PSSI officially introduced Shin Tae-Yong as the coach of the Indonesian national team. Shin Tae-Yong was contracted for 4 years to coach the National Team of various Ages, Starting from Senior, U-23, and U-19. While in charge of the National Team, Shin Tae-Yong has not presented a title for the Indonesian National Team. In the 2020 AFF Cup, Indonesia had to settle for being the runner up. Indonesia lost 6-2 on aggregate to Thailand, in the final which lasted 2 legs.
Shin Tae-yong also failed to win the title at the 2021 SEA Games which will be held in Vietnam. PSSI’s target for Shin Tae-yong at the SEA Games is to bring gold in the Men’s Football branch. At that time Indonesia was only able to win a Bronze medal.
Although they have not yet awarded the Garuda National Team the title of champion, the Indonesian public still believes in the owner of 23 caps for the South Korean national team to continue to train the national team. There was a polemic some time ago about the doubts of some PSSI directors with Shin Tae-Yong. However, not a few Indonesian supporters on various social media provide support and trust for the man from South Korea.
The public’s interest, especially the fans of the Indonesian national team who really miss the Garuda to fly at the highest level in the football scene, is of course a big responsibility for Shin Tae-Yong. We all have the same hope when we know that the national team will play in the Asian Cup after a long absence. And of course we also hope that the national team coached by Shin Tae-Yong will be the dark horse in the Asian Cup in 2023, although targeting the champion sounds like impossible. However, we never stop dreaming so that Indonesia will continue to excel. Good luck Garuda
ASL
