FIFA nods, Indonesian national team naturalized with Dutch goalkeeper

Paes has officially been called up to the Indonesian national team after the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) won the appeal case at FIFA. This was posted on Instagram by PSSI President Erick Thohir on August 18.

Goalkeeper Maarten Paes has been allowed to play for the Indonesian national team.

"Good news for Indonesian football. PSSI today announced that after a long and thorough process, Maarten Paes has finally been successfully registered and can now legally play for the Indonesian national team," Erick Thohir wrote on his Instagram account.

With the completion of this process, Paes no longer faces any obstacles in being able to wear the Indonesian national team jersey. If his fitness is guaranteed, his name is likely to be on the list of coach Shin Tae-yong to attend the third round of the 2026 World Cup Asian qualifiers next month and the 2024 AFF Cup later this year - a tournament in which Indonesia is in Group B with Vietnam, the Philippines, Myanmar and Laos.

In the Indonesian national team, goalkeeper Ernando Ari Sutaryadi has been trusted by coach Sin Tae-yong recently. However, the appearance of Paes (who is 1.91 m tall) has attracted attention not only in Indonesia but also from opponents in the Southeast Asian region.

Paes was born in Nijmegen, Netherlands. The goalkeeper born in 1998 is currently playing for FC Dallas, a team competing in the top league in the US (Major League Soccer). Paes began his goalkeeping career after joining the VV Union academy, then joined the club NEC Nijmegen (a team in the top league of the Netherlands) in 2012. Here, the 26-year-old goalkeeper was called up to the U.17 and U.19 teams of the Netherlands.

FC Utrecht then signed Paes on a four-year contract in 2018. He made his Eredivisie debut on 19 August 2018 against PEC Zwolle. During his time with the Utrecht first team, Paes made 48 appearances in all competitions, playing 4,264 minutes. During those matches, Paes conceded 63 goals and kept 12 clean sheets.

Goalkeeper Maarten Paes is expected to be a mainstay of the Indonesian team.

At international level, Paes played for the Netherlands U19 team at the 2016 and 2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championships, and has represented the Netherlands at U20 and U21 levels. Paes has Indonesian roots as his maternal grandmother was born in Pare, Kediri, East Java.

Paes took the oath of Indonesian citizenship in May, but FIFA has not allowed him to play for the Indonesian team because he is considered to have violated the rules on changing federations. According to FIFA regulations, players can only transfer to another national federation if they have not played for any national team, or a youth team of their original nationality registered in an official tournament before the age of 21. Paes played for the Netherlands U21 in a match against Belarus U21 in the qualifying round of the 2021 European U21 Championship. This match took place on November 15, 2020, when Paes was 22 years old. According to the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the age limit for participating in U21 tournaments is calculated at the beginning of the qualifying round (usually lasting 1-2 years). Paes was prevented from playing for the Indonesian team because of this.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/fifa-gat-dau-dan-nhap-tich-doi-tuyen-indonesia-co-them-thu-mon-nguoi-ha-lan-185240819133015462.htm