Tae Yong Shin, head coach of Indonesia’s U-23 national soccer team, is taking on another “great challenge. Indonesia will kick off the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup and the final Asian qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics on Friday in Qatar. The team will face Qatar (16), Australia (18) and Jordan (22) in Group A. “I thought it was the ‘group of death’ after the draw,” Shin said. “The ‘home team,’ the hosts, Qatar, came in. Australia is in good physical condition. Jordan is the Middle East’s underdog. As a result, we were drawn in a group with the winner and runner-up of the Qatar Asian Cup (which ended in February).”
It’s a tough challenge, no doubt. But expectations are also higher than ever.
This is thanks to Shin’s recent ‘performances’. Shin has had a banner year since taking over as Indonesia’s head coach in 2020. In his first year in charge, the team finished runners-up in the 2020 AFF (Association of Southeast Asian Football Federations) tournament. They also qualified for the Asian Cup for the first time since 2007. For Shin, there is no resting on his laurels. He is relentless in his pursuit of his goals. In a recent interview with Sports Chosun, Shin said his goals for this year include reaching the round of 16 at the Qatar Asian Cup, qualifying for the Asian final of the 2026 North and Central American World Cup, and qualifying for the Paris Olympics. In the Asian Cup, he led Indonesia to its first-ever appearance in the tournament. In the second round of World Cup qualifiers, they beat ‘rivals’ Vietnam for the second time in a row to boost their chances of qualifying for the final round. Now it’s Paris. Shin began his final training camp in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Jan. 1. The team played two practice matches against Saudi Arabia (1-3) and the UAE (1-0).
“It’s still a long way off,” Shin said.
“I’m stressed out about the issue of player withdrawals. In fact, three or four players are unavailable. There is a loss of power. If all the players (as initially envisioned) came, it would have been a double team, not a triple team. But it’s hard to get players who play in Europe. 안전놀이터 추천 Players who play in the Japanese J-League are especially hard to send. I know that the Japanese national team sent players who requested it. Personally, I think it’s against the spirit of sports,” he lamented. Shin chose Justin, who was born in 2003 and plays for Cerezo Osaka. His selection is a question mark until the end.
Shin is not backing down. “First of all, I want to qualify for the Olympics in this tournament, and I don’t think it’s easy at all. But I think you always have to aim high, that’s what motivates you. We will move forward,” he said.
Indonesia could face Hwang Sun-hong’s South Korea in the quarterfinals of the tournament. South Korea will play in Group B. The winner of Group A will play the runner-up of Group B and the runner-up of Group A will play the winner of Group B in the quarterfinals. “If we make it to the quarterfinals, we will play either Korea or Japan. We might actually play them once. Then coach Hwang Sun-hong will be stressed (laughs),” he says, adding, “We can be the revenge. He is instilling confidence in the players. We can do it in the AFC, not just in the AFF,” he said, adding that he is determined.