Suara.com – PSSI General Chair Erick Thohir is grateful for Indonesia's success in advancing to the last 16 of the 2023 Asian Cup and he is confident that in the future the Indonesian team will achieve even higher achievements.
“It's like, if this time it's in the top 16, and that's history, then the next time it has to be higher,” said Erick Thohir, who watched the national team's struggle live in Qatar, Sunday (28/1/2024) evening as quoted by Antara.
The Red and White national team failed to advance to the quarter-finals of the 2023 Qatar Asian Cup after losing 4-0 to Australia in the round of 16 at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Qatar, Sunday. However, in the view of the General Chair of PSSI, Erick Thohir, many lessons have been learned to improve the quality of the senior national team in the future.
PSSI General Chair Erick Thohir (second right) together with PSSI Deputy General Chair Zainudin Amali (second left) watch the Indonesian National Team's match against the Australian National Team in the round of 16 of the 2023 Asian Cup at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar, Sunday (28/1/ 2024). BETWEEN PHOTOS/Yusran Uccang/nym.
“This means that this team, which is mostly young, has played four matches with opponents who have above quality. There is experience gained, there is a mental level that should rise because they are against strong teams like Japan, Iraq and Australia. This is good capital ,” said Erick.
In this historic match for Indonesia, the national team trailed 0-2 in the first half after Red and White defender Elkan Baggot scored an own goal in the 12th minute and Australian player Boyle added a goal in the 45th minute. The Kangaroo team increased their number of goals at the end. -end of the second half through two players, Goodwin and Souttar.
The main thing that makes Erick optimistic about the future of Shin Tae-yong's team is because the Indonesian team is recorded as the youngest team to participate in the 2023 Asian Cup. The oldest player in the current Indonesian squad is Jordi Amat, 31 years old. Meanwhile, the youngest player is Marselino Ferdinan with 19 years and 2 months.
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Based on Transfermarkt data, the average age of players playing for the Indonesian national team in the 2023 Asian Cup is 22.5 years as of January 9 2024. Vietnam is in second place with an average player age of 23.3 years. Then, the Japanese player is 23.7 years old. After that there is Uzbekistan with an average player age of 23.9 years.
“The capital of young age with additional experience in the Asian Cup should be a greater achievement in the next Asian Cup. I hope that the defeat against Australia will not need to be mourned. There are still achievement targets that must be demonstrated for players and coaches,” said Erick.