Main frame
By the morning of November 23, coach Shin Tae-yong had just announced 25/33 Indonesian players to prepare for the 2024 AFF Cup. Looking at this list, fans of the archipelago soon formed the main frame including Asnawi Mangkualam (right back), Arhan Pratama (left back), Marselino Ferdinan (attacking midfielder), Rafael Struick (forward), Ivar Jenner (central midfielder) and Justin Hubner (center back).
Overall, they are still particularly important options in the tactical system of the Indonesian national team, whether they are the strongest squad or not.
For Indonesians today, Marselino Ferdinan is like "King Midas" who turns everything he touches into gold. Two goals against Saudi Arabia were enough to turn the 2004-born star into a hero of Indonesian football. The way Ferdinan plays makes people not believe that he is old enough to participate in the SEA Games.
Among the Dutch players who have naturalized in Indonesia, coach Shin Tae-yong cleverly selected personnel to divide evenly across the lines. It is not an exaggeration to say that the Indonesian team at the AFF Cup 2024 still carries the highest strength they have ever had in the history of the tournament.
In addition, a number of other young players who have shown their abilities in the U22 team and the national team are also present. Hokky Caraka, Donny Tri Pamungkas, Muhammad Ferrari, Ronaldo Kwateh, Nico, Ferdiansyah... are capable of causing trouble for any opponent in the Southeast Asian region.
Still can add
The difficulty for coach Shin Tae-yong before the AFF Cup 2024 comes from the schedule of the Indonesian domestic league. Liga 1 matches will continue during the time the national team is playing. Whether or not to release players to serve the Indonesian Football Federation depends on the clubs themselves.
Therefore, the Korean coach still has 8 vacant positions and will only announce them in the next 2-3 days. Rizky Ridho, Witan Sulaeman, Jakob Sayuri are names that are over the age of U22 but are expected to appear to strengthen the Indonesian team. At this time, PSSI can still adjust the force because the preliminary list is up to 50 people.
However, coach Shin Tae-yong needs to consider the possibility that he will have to use many Indonesian U22 players in the AFF Cup. The Korean coach himself admitted that he only set the goal of reaching the final instead of winning the championship as expected.
Indonesia without 15 naturalized players will be very different from the version with only 3 naturalized players and a few key players. The team from the archipelago is still a team that plays with a lot of physical strength, is tough and is ready to defeat opponents with fierce tackles. And, the victory over Saudi Arabia will give a lot of strength to the native players.
Defense is where coach Shin Tae-yong is most worried and he knows that he must by all means “patch” the holes left by the naturalized central defenders. In this way, Indonesia can turn itself into a “tank” of Southeast Asia.
