U-23 National Team and the Golden Generation of Indonesian Football

Even though it stopped in the semifinals of the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup, Indonesia can hope to reap new achievements from its golden generation.

AFP/KARIM JAAFAR

Indonesian players pose for a photo ahead of the U-23 Asian Cup semi-final match between Indonesia and Uzbekistan at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar on Monday (29/4/2024).

The performance of the Indonesian national team in the 2024 U-23 Age Cup has achieved a new achievement, successfully qualifying for the final round, even reaching the semifinals. Previously, since the tournament was held in 2013, the Indonesian team has never once made it to the final round.

No wonder, this high achievement raises hopes for more national team achievements in the future. This is inseparable from the age of the "Garuda Muda" players who are still young and still have long careers in the world of football.

The average age of the Indonesian U-23 national team is younger than a number of countries competing in the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup. The average age of the Indonesian players can be seen from the team squad brought by Coach Shin Tae-yong at 2024 Asian Cup. The player data was accessed from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Transfermarkt pages.

The Indonesian team competing in the 2024 U-23 Asia Cup consists of 23 players aged between 19 and 22 years old. There are five players who are 19 years old and four players who are 20 years old.

PSSI

Witan Sulaeman's celebration after scoring the second goal in the Group A match of the 2024 AFC U-23 Cup between Jordan and Indonesia at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar on Sunday (21/4/2024).

The other two categories are those aged 21 years (5 players) and 22 years old (9 players). The 22 year old players are Ernando Ari, Rizky Ridho, Nathan Tjoe-A-On, Pratama Arhan, Bagas Kaffa , Rio Fahmi, Adi Satryo, Witan Sulaeman, and Komang Teguh.

With that composition, the average age of Indonesian players sent to the U-23 Asian Cup is 20.8 years old. The average age of the Indonesian squad sent to Qatar is recorded as younger compared to the teams that Indonesia has faced in the group stage, such as Australia, Jordan, and South Korea.

The players brought by the Australian team have an average age of 21 years old. The same goes for the Jordanian team (21.4 years old) and the South Korean team (21.6 years old).

The average age of the players in the Indonesian U-23 national team is also observed to be younger compared to the three other teams that have successfully advanced to the semifinals. Uzbekistan, for example. The team that Indonesia will face in the semifinals has young players with an average age of 21.4 years old. Meanwhile, the other two semifinalist teams are Japan (21.7 years old) and Iraq (21.5 years old).

KOMPAS/IWAN SETIYAWAN

Pratama Arhan appeared with the senior national team in the final group D qualifying match for the 2023 Asia Cup against Japan at Al Thumama Stadium, Doha, Qatar on January 24, 2024.

With a youthful spirit, the Indonesian team is able to compete in the 2024 U-23 Asia Cup, having successfully advanced to the semifinals. The achievements of these young Indonesian players cannot be separated from the player regeneration initiated by coach Shin Tae-yong.

Since being appointed as the coach in charge of the U-20, U-23, and senior national teams, Shin Tae-yong has involved many young players in the national team squad. This strategy was first implemented by Shin Tae-yong in his first official match in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

When Indonesia faced Thailand at Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai on June 3, 2021, Shin Tae-yong fielded several 19-year-old young players, such as Witan Sulaeman, Rizki Ridho, and Pratama Arhan. The other young players at that time were Egy Maulana Vikri (20), Asnawi Mangkualam (21), and Kadek Agung (22).

Similarly, during the national team's FIFA Matchday match against the Curacao national team in September 2022, Shin Tae-yong did not hold back as he fielded six U-21 national team players to face Curacao, which has a higher FIFA ranking than Indonesia. This means that half of the players fielded by Shin Tae-yong at that time were young talents.

Regeneration of young Indonesian national team players

Regeneration is Shin Tae-yong's concern in building the Indonesian national team for the future. During the first press conference after being introduced as the new coach of the national team at Pakansari Stadium, Cibinong, Bogor Regency, 28 December 2019, Shin Tae-yong outlined his two coaching visions.

First, creating a strong national team cannot be done instantly. Second, young Indonesian talents are the main capital that needs to be nurtured and developed from now on. In essence, to form a strong national team requires a lot of young talent who must continue to be trained and given the opportunity to hone their experience playing at world level.

It is not without reason that Shin Tae-yong prefers young players. In Shin Tae-yong's observations, the main problem for the national team is the condition of the stamina of the national team players. The average performance of the national team players began to decline in the second half when they entered the 70th minute. “Physically you have to be strong so that you can be mentally strong too. "Strong physique also makes players more focused and can have more enthusiasm to win," said Shin Tae-yong (Kompas, 29/12/2019).

AFC

Indonesian captain, Rizky Ridho (left), attempts to hold back South Korean player, Kang Seong-jin, in the quarterfinal match of the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar, on Friday (26/4/2024).

However, not just any young player is called up by Shin Tae-yong. In addition to being young and talented, they must also have disciplined character. In November 2020, Shin Tae-yong sent home three national U-19 team players due to disciplinary actions, including being late to training sessions.

Armed with the improvement of players' basic fitness and the formation of a professional player attitude, Shin Tae-yong began to cultivate the team's mental game and game strategy. As a result, the champion mentality of the national team, which is filled with young players, began to take shape.

Together with the national team, Shin Tae-yong won the 2020 AFF Cup runner-up title, 2021 Hanoi SEA Games bronze medal, runner-upAFF Cup U232023, as well as making new history by qualifying Indonesia for the first time to the last 16 of the 2023 Qatar Asian Cup and qualifying the U-23 national team to the semifinals of the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup. However, the Indonesian national team was not lucky enough to advance to final after being defeated by Uzbekistan with a score of 0-2.

DOKUMENTASI PSSI

Indonesia U-23 football team attacker, Ramadhan Sananta, celebrates after scoring a goal against Timor Leste, on Sunday (20/8/2023), at Rayong Provincial Stadium, Thailand.

Building a golden generation of Indonesian football

Even though they have not succeeded in qualifying for the final round, the U-23 national team's achievement in reaching the semifinals of the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup is a hope for the emergence of achievements from the golden generation of Indonesian football in the future.

PSSI's coaching pattern and Coach Shin Tae-yong provide many opportunities for young players to appear with the senior national team. In the U-23 national team, there are at least 10 U-23 players who have played for the senior national team. They are Pratama Arhan, Witan Sulaeman, Rizky Ridho, Marselino Ferdinan, Ramadhan Sananta, Ernando Ari, Hokky Caraka, Arkhan Fikri, Nathan Tjoe-A-On, and Muhammad Ferrari.

Witan has already made 41 appearances with the senior national team, followed by Pratama Arhan who has played 40 times for the senior national team. Witan and Pratama Arhan's first debut was during a friendly match between Indonesia and Oman in May 2021. At that time, Witan and Arhan were both 19 years old. Playing mostly as a left-wing attacker, Witan has contributed nine goals to the senior national team, while wing-back Arhan has scored three goals for the senior national team.

HUMAS PSSI

Indonesian winger, Marselino Ferdinan, executed a penalty that opened Indonesia's advantage over Jordan in the Group A match of the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha, Qatar on Sunday (21/4/2024).

Apart from Witan and Arhan, the captain of the under-23 national team, Rizky Ridho, has also played 34 times for the national team and scored three goals. Another name is attacking midfielder Marselino Ferdinand, who has appeared 21 times in the senior national team and scored three goals.

There is also midfielder Ramadhan Sananta, who made his debut with the senior national team in September 2022. Until March 2024, Ramadhan Sananta has appeared 10 times with the senior national team and contributed five goals.

Also read: Defeated by Uzbekistan, Indonesia U-23's chances of going to the Paris Olympics are still open

Other young players who have also been included in the list of senior players are goalkeeper Ernando Ari (11 appearances), Hokky Caraka (6 appearances), Arkhan Fikri (3 appearances), Nathan (2 appearances), and Muhammad Ferrari (1 appearance).

With the age of players still below 23 years old, Indonesian football looks towards the future with its golden generation of young players. Indispensable experience in playing becomes the backbone of the mental champion of the Indonesian national team in the future.

AFC

Indonesia U-23 goalkeeper, Ernando Ari, blocked Australia's penalty opportunity in the Group A match of the 2024 Asian U-23 Cup on Thursday (18/4/2024) at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha, Qatar. Ernando's outstanding performance helped Indonesia secure a victory.

The golden generation of Portuguese and Belgian football

In reality, the combination of senior and young players is often applied by coaches worldwide. The aim is to maintain player regeneration for the team's future. At the 2014 World Cup, for example, German national team coach Joachim Loew brought nine young players aged 20-24. Those brought by Loew included Julian Draxler, Thomas Mueller, Toni Kroos, and Mario Goetze.

Also read: Indonesia's challenge to match Vietnam's achievements in the U-23 Asian Cup

The results of coaching young players also encourage achievements, as experienced by the golden generation of the Portuguese and Belgian national teams. Portugal's golden generation led by Jorge Costa, Luis Figo, Paulo Torres, Joao Pinto and Rui Costa emerged in 1991 by winning the U-20 World Junior Football Championship. A decade later, Portugal's golden generation became the semifinals of the 2000 European Cup, runner-up of the 2004 European Cup, and progressed to the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup.

The golden generation of Belgium has also achieved world-class success. Kevin de Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, Vincent Kompany, Eden Hazard, Simon Mignolet, and Romelu Lukaku were the backbone of Belgium's qualification for the final rounds of the Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018 World Cup. Belgium was able to make it to the quarter-finals of the 2014 World Cup and became the third-placed team in the 2018 World Cup in Russia. (KOMPAS RESEARCH)

Also read: U-23 National Team Success, 3-4-3 Formation, and 2024 Olympic Hopes