Good Luck for Garuda during Disaster

Disasters have brought good luck for the Indonesian Under-19 national soccer team, which has been hard hit by the pandemic. They are currently part of a training program in Croatia.

KOMPAS/TOTOK WIJAYANTO

The Indonesian national team coach Shin Tae-Yong monitored the training and selection process for U-19 players before the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic in January 2020. Training was held at the Wibawa Mukti Stadium, Cikarang, Bekasi, West Java.

The image of a busy year, full of media attention, and having a great amount of savings has suddenly disappeared in the minds of “Garuda Muda” team players, such as David Maulana, since the coronavirus emerged in the country several months ago.

Many soccer players including members of the national team, known as the Garuda team, were unemployed due to the termination of national soccer competitions, such as Liga 1 and Liga 2 Indonesia, since March. Most of the players and coaching staff only received just half of their salary as their soccer clubs suffered acute financial problems.

A new hope emerged when they were summoned and gathered in Jakarta to attend a training camp in Senayan in July. However, the time to play again was postponed.

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The players, along with the coach of the national soccer team, Shin Tae-yong, who just arrived from South Korea, had to be isolated and underwent two weeks of independent quarantine at a hotel in Jakarta.

While at the hotel, they were prohibited from going out. They did not have any physical activities. Their activities were only eating, sleeping, undergoing regular COVID-19 swab tests and doing light exercises.

This unusual situation caused a problem for a number of Garuda Muda players who, before the pandemic, had a high activity rhythm. Inevitably, when the quarantine ended and they started training, two players, namely Serdy Ephy Fano and Ahmad Afhridrizal, were still carried away by the relaxed atmosphere they had during the quarantine period.

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They came late in one of training sessions in August, because they woke up late. Without mercy, Shin removed them from the squad list. "The activities of the U-19 national team are financed by the government. I don\'t need players who can\'t perform optimally when practicing and playing,” Shin after announcing the suspension of Serdy and Afhridrizal from the national team.

HUMAS PSSI

A number of Indonesian national team players underwent Covid-19 swab tests, at the end of last July. This test is part of the health protocol ahead of the resumption of training for the national team.

Discipline

Shin, like most coaches from South Korea, is known to be quite disciplined. The former South Korean national team coach during the 2018 World Cup in Russia prioritized the most basic things, namely the work ethic and mental attitude of players.

"Change must start from small things. If they have good behavior, they will automatically become good players,” he said in an exclusive interview in January 2020.

The emergence of the pandemic has indirectly "helped" Shin in sorting out the players according to his criteria.

The pandemic demands good discipline among athletes, especially in maintaining a healthy diet and good nutrition and in ensuring physical fitness. Every time they finish practicing and return to the hotel, for example, they are required to clean themselves. Every piece of equipment has to be sprayed with disinfectant.

"We want to make sure all players and coaching staff are in good health while carrying out the training program," said Syarif Alwi, a doctor for the Indonesian national team.

Change must start from small things.

Nova Arianto, assistant coach of the U-19 national team, said that Shin ordered all players to increase their intake of high protein, such as meat, milk and eggs. Greasy food is strictly prohibited. "All the players have been given their own food menu," said David, who is one of the team\'s backbones.

Self-discipline, such as in eating, are essential to enable players to play with high-intensity in line with Shin’s style of playing. "Eating rice is not prohibited, but must be reduced to a maximum of once a day. Protein-rich foods make up the players\' main meals,” said Nova.

However, the new habit is not easy for the players to digest. Some of them have also experienced great fatigue as shown by the players during their training activities in Croatia, which began on Aug. 30.

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KOMPAS/TOTOK WIJAYANTO

The Indonesian National Team Head Coach Shin Tae-Yong directed the players\' positions during the first training as well as the U-19 player selection process before the outbreak of the pandemic, Monday (13/1/2020).

Fainting

The intensity of physical activities has been doubled during their training at Sveti Martin na Muri, a quiet village with about 2,600 people in the northern part of Croatia. "The training in Croatia was so hard. Some even fainted,” PSSI chairman Mochamad Iriawan said in an report posted on the PSSI’s website.

Not surprisingly, in the first trial match in Croatia against the Bulgarian U-19 national team on Saturday (5/9/2020), the young Garuda team was defeated 3-0. All of the goals came in the last 12 minutes of the match.

This team is still progressing after undergoing high-intensity training.

"From the start, we will not mind any defeats in this trial match. This team is still progressing after undergoing high-intensity training,” said Shin.

M. Adi Satryo, the U-19 national team goalkeeper who conceded three goals in that match, admitted that training in Croatia was much tougher than in Jakarta. However, he still tried to enjoy it.

There, they can at least be released from the hustle and bustle of Jakarta and the threat of contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus, given that the spread of COVID-19 in the country has continued.

HUMAS PSSI

Indonesian U-19 football match and the Bulgarian team in Croatia, Saturday (5/9/2020). Indonesia lost 0-3.

“This training is an extraordinary moment for me. So I tried my best to stick to the entire training regime from the coach. We also tried to be more disciplined in complying with health protocols and maintaining personal hygiene,” said Adi.

After facing Bulgaria, Garuda Muda will face other reputable opponents, such as Croatia and Saudi Arabia. All trial and training matches in Europe are expected to be a great asset for the young Garuda team to face the 2021 Under-20 World Cup, which will be held in Indonesia, May-June 2021.

The PSSI is targeting Indonesia to qualify for at least the group stage in the soccer tournament. This target is very ambitious. The last time Indonesia appeared in the tournament was in 1979 during which it had become an easy team for most of the opponents including Argentina with its star Diego Maradona.

"I want our players to fight hard for the Garuda emblem on the chest," said Iriawan. (JON)