The U23 National Team of Asian Games As the Priority in 2018 AFF Cup

DBasia.news – The temporary coach of Indonesia national team, Bima Sakti, said the U23 Indonesia national team in Asian Games are prioritized to play in the 2018 AFF Cup this year. He assumed the composition and performance of the U23 national team could be seen since the 2018 Asian Games.

However, the national team still open the chance for the other players. It depends on the performance of the player in the competition.

“Certainly, we can see the character of the U23 squad in the 2018 Asian Games. Most of the players from there, and there will be the additional player in the league. We will see the performance for consideration,” Bima Sakti said.

The U23 national team in 2018 Asian Games delivered an attractive performance. Unfortunately, the Garuda Muda squad had to leave the round of 16 after the failure in the penalty shootout with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a 3-4 score (2-2).

However, the attractive performance of the U23 national team is related with the preparation from Luis Milla and coaching team for 1,5 years. They were learning from the failure of qualification in the U23 Asian Cup and 2017 Asian Games.

Currently, Luis Milla hasn’t given any answer regarding PSSI’s intention to extend his contract after the 2018 Asian Games. The Indonesia national team was handled by Bima Sakti and Danurwindo.

“I’m still the coach assistant, this is just because coach Luis hasn’t joined yet, I will replace him temporarily, won’t be too much different to what coach Luis did so far,” Bima Sakti said.

As the preparation ahead of the 2018 AFF Cup, the Indonesia national team will play a FIFA Match Day friendly match against Mauritius at Wibawa Mukti Stadium, Cikarang, on Tuesday (11/9).

The national team temporary coach, Bima Sakti and Danurwindo, called 20 players to support the Garuda squad against Mauritius. 8 of them are senior players, Muhammad Ridho (Borneo FC), Fachruddin Aryanto (Madura United), Rizky Pora (Barito Putera), Alfin Tuasalamony (Arema FC), Bayu Pradana (Mitra Kukar), Riko Simanjuntak (Persija Jakarta), Stefano Lilipaly (Bali United), and Boaz Solossa (Persipura Jayapura).

While one debutant is Arema FC striker, Dedik Setiawan. The rest is the U23 national team players in 2018 Asian Games.