Shin Tae-yong, Leading Indonesia, Once Minus at Football Into Its Glory Days
As an Indonesian and a football freak, having my national team reach its peak is one of the most bewildering times. I haven’t been able to digest the Indonesia U-23 is managed by Shin Tae-yong (STY), a Korean manager who sent Germany home back in the World Cup 2018 when he led the Korea Republic national team to beat them, are able to outclass the likes of Australia, Jordania, and even the Korea Republic themselves at the ongoing Asian Cup U-23 tournament, where we are the debutant and reached the semis to face Uzbekistan. Things I never thought of, even in my wildest dreams.
The Embarrassing Times
Prior to the STY era, in 2019, our senior side just lost to Malaysia 3–2 at home at World Cup 2022 Qualifiers. In that round, we also lost 5–0 both home and away to the United Arabian Emirates and lost 4–1 to Vietnam and 3–0 to Thailand at home.
Beyond embarrassing, but it was expected since we were that bad, if there’s a word stronger than ‘worse’ that’s where we were. The national team was filled with players that unable to read the game and can’t even hold the ball properly, let alone deliver a right pass.
It was heartbreaking to know we are far behind our neighboring countries. We weren’t even able to pull off the basic understanding of football. We were minus at football.
And then “The Great Shin” comes.
Cutting One Generation Into Perfection
In his first year coaching Indonesia, he needed to teach players how to pass, how to position themselves when playing, how to level up their stamina, and so on. This kind of thing directly mirrors the Indonesian league itself, which is also that bad. Only the strongest with a peaceful mind watch it.
And then he did the unthinkable, he cut one generation and started giving young players a chance to play for the national team. Players who are above 30 or giving no impact were cut short from the national team.
It was such a statement move that he received mixed responses. But he seemed to have none of it. It was deemed to be the best choice since the young players have more motivation, and the best physique, and for the greater cause, it is for the longevity of the national team.
And what he’s been building is starting to pay off.
Hitting a Jackpot with Heritage Players
The Indonesian national team starting to play just like any proper football team, we barely see any mistakes when making a pass or even seeing players run out of breath in just sixty minutes of play. But things that actually really turned the trajectory of Indonesia was when STY along with PSSI (Indonesian Football Federation) led by Erick Tohir, recruited players with Indonesian heritage.
The very first name to naturalize was Jordi Amat (Johor Darul Ta’zim), an experienced center-back in La Liga and Premier League, and then the others follow. Sandy Walsh (KV Mechelen), Shayne Pattynama (AS Eupen), Justin Hubner (Wolverhampton), Ivar Jenner (Jong Utrecht), Rafael Struick (Ado Den Haag) are the heritage players who played for the senior side at Asian Cup earlier this year where we made history by reaching the quarter-finals for the first time.
And another three players joined, Thom Haye (SC Heerenveen), Ragnar Oratmangoen (Fortuna Sittard), Jay Idzes (Venezia), and Nathan Tjoe-A-On (Swansea City) all played where we trashed our rival Vietnam in both home and away 1–0 and 3–0 respectively at World Cup 2026 Qualifiers. Keeping the hope to reach a later stage alive. And also our FIFA rank is ranking up to 132 from 172 in just two years.
Those players mentioned aren’t just some random players, they are the backbone of their respective clubs. Thom Haye is leading the midfield with SC Heerenveen in Eredivisie, and also for Oratmangoen who often plays as a 10 or left wing. Jay Idzes is playing all the league games and currently helping Venezia into their promotion to Serie A. And Tjoe-A-On who is on loan at Thom Haye’s club, starts finding his feet with our U-23 sides.
STY and PSSI recruitment isn’t fooling around, they recruit players based on stats at their club and also looking by age. Almost all of them are under 23 years old. And furthermore, these players are desperate to play for us for various reasons. We don’t adhere to dual nationality, so these players need to give up theirs to become Indonesian citizen.
Paris 2024, Is What We Aim For
And aside from that, the ‘local’ players are also stepping up and showing we’ve got what it takes to compete. Marselino Ferdinan is just 19 years old but already had tons of game time at the senior side and now plays in Belgium for KMSK Deinze. Pratama Arhan is untouchable at left-back at this ongoing Asian Cup U-23 tournament with his majestic long throw, and he just signed for Suwon FC (League 1 Korea). And also the likes of Witan Sulaeman, Ernando Ari, and Rizki Ridho whom I strongly believe have what it takes to go abroad and is shown by their stellar performance currently.
At the semis, we’re going to face Uzbekistan who is the giant in this tournament, but we showed before we could take on any team at our best. Even if we lose, we still have the chance to make it to Paris by finishing third or even if we don’t, we could still qualify by winning the play-off against the African continent, Guyana. So there are three lives to make it to the Olympics for the first time in 52 years.
And if we are able to pull that off, that will be the biggest history for us. This country will celebrate it like crazy, I mean it will be absolutely crazy. We are known as the craziest football fans with colossal support, wherever our national team plays, even if it’s for the age category, we make sure our supporters are heard.
And it’s all thanks to Shin Tae-yong, we bow to none but you, sir. You already changed not only the way we play but also the mindset of inferiority as a lower footballing country. You’re bringing back the desire and hype for this team and even as a human living. All in all, you turned this minus team into a proper national team with dignity.
