Indonesia U-19, At a Glance
07 November 2013 10:48 Mei No Comments!
Football is, at least to my view, the most popular sport in the world. Don't agree? You may think the opposite of course. However, the fact that it is played by almost all countries in the world such as well, you name it: France, England, Italy, Spain, America, Vietnam and Indonesia undoubtedly makes it the most outstanding type of physical exercise. It doesn't stand alone, as we can see ourselves, it has several elements: coach, players, supporters and rivalry. A complete set!
Talking about football, we will recall some of cool well-played clubs, teams or squads. One of them is coming from our country, Indonesian national team for under 19 or it's widely known as U-19. Spot on! All people in Indonesia notice and feel proud of this team as they succeeded in grabbing 2013 AFF U-19 Throphy in September after beating the giant team, South Korea with the final score 3-2, An epic winning as they had not gained the throphy for 22 years since Sea Games 1991. Beyond that, the team has a distinguished performance that makes it a bit different from its senior team. One of the factors that I still remember about U-19 national team is that the boys rely on the combination between long shot and short one where they also found the wing sectors as their weapon to break rivals' defense. Optimal performance and physical endurance add this factor; We can review how the boys managed to play for 90 minutes beating Vietnam, Thailand, Timor Leste and also South Korea. Another thing that makes U-19 an outstanding team is that it consists of many tough talented young players who come from different regions of Indonesia such as Evan Dimas, Hargianto, Hansamu, Maldini, Zulfiandi and Ravi as the goalkeeper. Everyone noticed how tough Ravi was as he tried to block lots of potential shootings from rival teams' players; moreover, public will still remember how great the performance of Evan Dimas was especially after a hattrick was made from his feet.
The last special factor about U-19 team lies on its brilliant coach, Indra Sjafri as he is also the brain for the team, the creator. His "skill" is awesomely stunning because he is not only dedicating himself for the national team's success but also for the players' future. The coach had been searching for the talented players throughout the years from one remote village to another, at his own expenses and once he got the players, he built the team. Unfortunately, the Football Association of Indonesia or popularly known as PSSI has never been able to optimize the function of a coach; Indra once did not receive his wages for around 7 months and he did the talent scouting based on his own money. Brilliant!
"I will search until I reach the sky for all talented football players. All, Except "naturalization" players. We have the talent and let's explore it." (Indra Sjafri)
The coach who was born in West Sumatra also has distinct football paradigm from other Indonesian coaches like his decision to play for 4-3-3 formation as he knew really well that his players who are used to playing kick and rush type in a limited power would still play optimally for 90 minutes. Here, we may hail to the physical coach Nursaelan Santoso who was appointed by Indra to train the boys' physical performance and exercises.
There are a lot to tell about our proud U-19 national team; the euphoria that has started since September seems to continue as the lads were also qualified for AFC U-19 2014 in Myanmar and the fact that AFC rules stated that there will be 4 semifinalists of AFC U-19 2014 to play in the World Cup U-20 2015. Many jobs have awaited the squad but one thing for sure we still believe that the players will show their best in their next tournaments like what they did in the AFF U-19 final against the tough giant team, South Korea. Let's pray for the glorious glory and scream "Break a leg, boys!"
Written with heart by: Mei (editor and football viewer)