The Indonesian team is facing many worries after a series of bad friendly matches before the 2023 Asian Cup.
The Indonesian team revealed many weaknesses before the 2023 Asian Cup. Photo: PSSI
Before the 2023 Asian Cup, the Indonesian team had a training trip to Türkiye. However, the results of this trip brought many worries. Coach Shin Tae-yong’s students received defeat in both friendly matches against the team ranked 120th in the world, Libya.
Thus, the Indonesian team went through 4 consecutive matches without winning before entering the 2023 Asian Cup finals, including 3 defeats. The island team also received 11 goals lost after these 4 matches.
Indonesia team (red shirt) received 2 consecutive defeats against Libya. Photo: PSSI
Individuals continuously make mistakes
To prepare for the 2023 Asian Cup, coach Shin Tae-yong has called up many quality naturalized players. Notably, defender Elkan Baggott, who is playing in England for the Ipswich Town club. However, Elkan Baggott has not yet found a common voice alongside Jordi Amat and Rizky Ridho.
In the past 4 matches, Indonesia conceded 5 times within the first 25 minutes. It can be seen that this team’s ability to deploy their squad and defense system is still limited.
Weak public goods
While the defense played poorly, the Indonesian team’s offense was not much better. The Indonesian team had 17 shots in 2 matches against Libya. However, only once did this team score a goal. Indonesian players do not boldly finish when given the opportunity and often passively choose the last solution, causing a series of opportunities to pass one by one.
Coach Shin Tae-yong still has a lot of work to do with the Indonesian team. Photo: PSSI
Not only that, physical fitness is also a headache for coach Shin Tae-yong. The Iraqi team once scored 2 goals against Indonesia in the last 10 minutes of the match, in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
On January 2, the Libyan team also scored 2 goals in the 89th and 90+2 minutes. It is worth mentioning that the Indonesian defense did not show any resistance in both of these two goals.
The 2023 Asian Cup finals are near and coach Shin Tae-yong only has about 1 week left to overcome the remaining weaknesses of the Indonesian team. In the 2023 Asian Cup, the Indonesian team is in Group D. Coach Shin Tae-yong’s students faced Iraq (January 15), Vietnam (January 19) and Japan (January 24).
