The Indonesian national team coach, Shin Tae-yong, revealed that the Garuda squad appeared different after the 2024 U23 Asian Cup. The Indonesian national team managed to reach the semifinals of the 2024 U23 Asian Cup after beating South Korea on penalties with a score of 11-10. The Indonesian national team also made history by reaching the semifinals of the U23 Asian Cup in the first tournament they went through.
Unfortunately, Rizky Ridho et al lost to Uzbekistan with a score of 0-2 in the semifinals of the tournament. The Indonesian national team then fell again 1-2 to Iraq in the race for third place in the 2024 U23 Asian Cup. Even though Garuda only needed one win from these two matches to ensure a place at the 2024 Paris Olympics, yet it did not realized.
However, Shin Tae-yong saw that the 2024 U23 Asian Cup made Indonesian national team players experienced changes in terms of mentality and self-confidence. A number of Indonesian national team players in the 2024 U23 Asian Cup are in the senior squad, something that has become a characteristic of the era of Shin Tae-yong’s leadership. The Indonesian U23 national team players in the senior team include Ernando Ari, Rizky Ridho, Marselino Ferdinan, Rafael Struick, Pratama Arhan, Justin Hubner, and Nathan Tjoe-A-On.
“For young players, yesterday (in the U23 Asian Cup) they qualified for the semifinals, indeed, the biggest change is mental, self-confidence,” said the South Korean coach in a press conference after the Indonesia vs Tanzania national team on Sunday (2/6/2024). “So, we can play our game against anyone, that’s the biggest change,” explained the 53-year-old coach.
On the other hand, Indonesian national team midfielder, Marselino Ferdinan, admitted that changes were felt after successfully reaching the semifinals of the 2024 U23 Asian Cup. The former Persebaya Surabaya player also revealed that he learned a lot from the 2024 U23 Asian Cup. “I took a lot of lessons and experience from the U23 Asian Cup,” said Marselino. “We changed the whole team. Moreover, we brought the game from U23 to senior and everything went well and balanced,” he said.
