Correct Naturalization, Indonesian National Team Achievements Soar
Photo Illustration by Andry Winarko VOI
– The euphoria of football fans in Indonesia is growing. Why not, the achievements of the Indonesian National Team under Shin Tae-yong (STY) at both senior and age group levels have increased significantly.
Indeed, the coach from South Korea has not won a single trophy. But in terms of games and results in various tournaments, it is enough to raise optimism among Indonesian football fans.
At the senior level, the Indonesian national team managed to qualify for the last 16 of the Asian Cup and has a big chance of qualifying for the third qualifier for the 2026 World Cup in the Asian zone. Most recently, STY succeeded in bringing the U-23 National Team to fourth place in the U-23 Asian Cup which opened up the opportunity to take part in the 2024 Olympics if they were able to beat Guinea in the playoffs on May 9. The improvement of the Indonesian National Team under STY did not happen suddenly. Since being recruited by the then Chairman of PSSI, Mochamad Iriawan, last December 2019, the coach from Ginseng Country has dared to make breakthroughs that often cause controversy.
STY dared to cut off a generation to form a "new" Indonesian National Team. The generation of Evan Dimas cs must be willing to end their dream of defending the National Team because of this policy. STY selects young players to defend the national team both at U-23 level and in the Senior National Team. That's not enough, the Korean national team coach at the 2018 World Cup is also looking for players of Indonesian blood who play abroad to be naturalized. Naturalization is nothing new in order to boost the achievements of Indonesian football.
PSSI carried out a player naturalization program in the 1950s. At that time, the majority of players were Dutch citizens, such as Van der Berg, Pietersen, Pesch, Boelanrd van Tuyl, and Arnold van der Vin. Unfortunately, only Arnold van der Vin (playing as goalkeeper) was able to break into the national team by making his debut in a friendly match against Hong Kong, 27 July 1952.
The trend of naturalization of players developed again in the 2000s. At that time, apart from players of Indonesian descent, PSSI also accepted naturalized players of non-descent descent. The player was given Indonesian citizen status thanks to his brilliant football career with Indonesian clubs.
Just mention names like Yoo Jae-hoon, Cristian Gonzales, Ilija Spasojevic, Beto Goncalves, Victor Igbonefo and Bio Paulin. Together with other names such as Diego Michels, Raphael Maitimo, Irfan Bachdim, Kim Kurniawan and Ezra Walian, they were expected to be able to improve the achievements of the Indonesian National Team at that time. Naturalization of the STY Era for the Needs of the Indonesian National Team
Entering the Shin Tae-yong era, naturalization is still ongoing. The difference is, now PSSI is now prioritizing players who truly have Indonesian blood or ancestry and are willing to play for the national team. PSSI General Chairperson for the period November 2019-February 2023, Mochamad Iriawan considers the pros and cons of the naturalization program that STY wants, as normal. In 2021, STY asked PSSI to naturalize four players, namely Jordi Amat (KAS Eupen), Sandy Walsh (KV Mechelen), Kevin Diks (FC Copenhagen), and Mees Hilgers (FC Twente).
The Indonesian U-23 National Team while competing in the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup (doc. PSSI).
“When it comes to debate, pros and cons, that's normal. Some want to naturalize, some don't. As long as it's for the good of our national team, why not? "This was STY's consideration at that time for the naturalization of the four players," said Iwan Bule (Ibul), Iriawan's nickname, Monday 6 May 2024.
Ibul said, to fulfill STY's wishes, PSSI formed a special team led by member of the PSSI Executive Committee (Exco), Hasani Abdulgani. Hasani then communicated with the player through his agent. According to him, PSSI contacted the player's agent to ask for proof of Indonesian descent. Because, PSSI does not want these four players to only claim to have Indonesian blood, but have no valid proof. Ibul gave an example, the naturalization process for Marc Klok, who couldn't immediately defend the Indonesian National Team after being naturalized and had to wait five years because he didn't have any ancestry documents, was a lesson.
“Apart from that, the team also went to Europe to communicate with the four players. This is proof that PSSI wants to ensure that the players requested by STY truly comply with the rules. "Even though in the end we found out that the only ones willing were Jordi (Amat) and Sandy (Walsh)," added Ibul.
Moving on to the Erick Thohir era, PSSI is increasingly aggressive in naturalizing players of descent recommended by STY. Names such as Shayne Pattynama, Rafael Struick, Ivar Jenner, Justin Hubner, Jay Idzes, Nathan Tjoe-A-On, Ragnar Oratmangoen, Thom Haye, and most recently Maarten Paes are proof of PSSI and STY's seriousness in forming a solid Indonesian national team.
PSSI Exco member, Arya Sinulingga, is grateful that the Indonesian National Team currently has no shortage of naturalized players. This is because players of Indonesian descent in Europe are starting to be interested in changing citizenship. According to him, apart from STY, the factor of Erick Thohir as Chairman of PSSI also has a significant impact. Erick's figure, who once took part in European football with Inter Milan and Oxford United, has made players of Indonesian descent in Europe optimistic about the future of the national team.
"We are lucky to have Ketum, the former President of Inter Milan, then he also has Oxford, so when he looks for players of Indonesian blood, he will have a lot of information, and he also has a team to see whether the players are good or not. "After being approved by STY, Mr. Erick also communicated directly with the targeted players to explain the targets of the Indonesian National Team," he explained.
"That's what happens and is experienced by all the players, so don't be surprised that many people want to, because Mr. Erick immediately stepped in to make a presentation about PSSI and the national team. One more thing, Mr. Erick also teased the players with the potential for increased fame. "Like predicting that the player's personal social media will increase in number of followers once rumors about him wanting to be naturalized emerge," continued Arya.
Naturalization Doesn't Kill Local Players
Even though in the STY era the naturalization program was based on needs and to improve the achievements of the Indonesian National Team, this did not mean it was without resistance. For those who refuse, the naturalization program is considered to be able to kill the dream of local players playing for the national team. Football guard, Binder Singh asked all Indonesian football stakeholders not to worry about the naturalization program. Because, until now the Indonesian National Team under STY has been progressing well.
The Indonesian U-23 national team has been training in Paris (doc. PSSI).
"Maybe later there will be 12-15 players of Indonesian descent. I think whoever coaches the Indonesian National Team will be professional, not just play them all. "No, you have to show quality," he said on the Bola Bung Binder YouTube channel.
He also emphasized that the former coach of Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma had not forgotten the local players who took part in competitions in the Indonesian League 1. Local players such as Rizky Ridho, Wahyu Prasetyo, Witan Sulaiman are also still given the opportunity to defend the Indonesian national team.
"This means that as long as local players develop and perform well, they will certainly be called up to the national team. So there's no need to worry," he added.
Another football observer, Justinus Lhaksana, was also reluctant to question the background of the national team players. According to the former coach of the Indonesian National Futsal Team, all the nation's children, whether pure or purebred, have the same right to defend the Indonesian National Team.
"We must not be too narrow-minded in thinking about local pride, local pride. "It would be better if the local pride was great, but in fact it's not. If they were great, Shin Tae-yong wouldn't need to seek naturalization," said Koci, Justinus' nickname, quoted from the account @halfblood_indonesie.
Meanwhile, Indonesian football legend Rully Nere believes that the player naturalization program indirectly kills the motivation and dreams of local children who want to play for the Indonesian national team.
He is worried that the naturalization program could kill the motivation of young players who are currently being trained to become future players in Indonesia. Because, when they had been practicing hard, in the end PSSI actually preferred naturalizing hereditary players.
"For me, it is for coaching and for our children who still have a future, naturalization indirectly kills their motivation. Because these kids are now training half to death, suddenly there is naturalization. They will definitely be disappointed," he said.
The Papuan-born striker stated that the presence of naturalized players does not guarantee that the Indonesian national team will be successful. Although, he still emphasized that he was not against the naturalization program.
“In the future, our football may or may not be good. For the World Cup, the naturalization of the players is true but the quality is two levels. If (the quality) is the same, what's the point? With them (naturalized players) we also didn't reach the final. "Naturalization for the World Cup is for the sake of prestige, maybe for me one or two is okay, but too many are not allowed," said Rully.
Football observer Tommy Welly said that PSSI should run the naturalization program as an acceleration and not a policy. Because the formation of the national team must not forget about competition.
“The federation doesn't just (manage) the national team. "The federation also has competitions, football development, law enforcement, international and others," said Towel, his nickname. He believes that PSSI can fulfill STY's wishes for players of Indonesian blood with grade A. But on the other hand, PSSI also cannot forget that local competitions, which are expected to be a source of local talent before strengthening the Indonesian national team, still often run beyond expectations.
Towel emphasized that the naturalization program should not make PSSI and the national team dependent on diaspora players, and forget about local players. “'The critical question is, how long will this acceleration of naturalization last? Then how much? "This is what the Federation must think about," he said.
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