Indonesia selects 7 players playing in Europe for Asian Cup 2023

Turkey Indonesia finalized the list of 26 players for the 2023 Asian Cup on the afternoon of January 4, with many naturalized players playing in Europe.

Of the 28 players currently training in Türkiye, two were not selected: Borneo FC midfielder Adam Alis and Arema FC midfielder Arkhan Fikri. However, coach Shin Tae-yong still kept both of them in the team in case another player got injured.

Indonesia's official roster includes seven naturalized players, notably defender Justin Hubner of Wolves in the Premier League, Jordi Amat of Malaysian club Johor Darul Tazim, who has played for many years in La Liga for Espanyol, Rayo Vallecano and the Premier League for Swansea City. The other five players in this category are defender Sandy Walsh (Mechelen, Belgium), Shayne Pattynama (Viking, Norway), midfielder Marc Klok (Persib Bandung, Indonesia), Ivar Jenner (Utrecht Youth, Netherlands) and striker Rafael Struick (ADO Den Haag, Netherlands). Except for Klok, the remaining players are of Indonesian origin.

20-year-old centre-back Justin Hubner is one of six players playing in Europe for the Indonesian national team. Photo: PSSI

Among the seven players playing in Europe, in addition to Huber, Walsh, Pattynama, Jenner and Struick, there are also 1.96m tall centre-back Elkan Baggott, who plays for Ipswich Town FC in the English Third Division, and 19-year-old midfielder Marselino Ferdinan, who plays for Deinze in the Belgian Second Division. The remaining players have all been long-time players in the national team or U23 under coach Shin Tae-yong.

To prepare for the 2023 Asian Cup, Indonesia gathered on December 20 and trained for two weeks in Türkiye. On January 2, they played a friendly match and lost 0-4 to Libya, but coach Shin took the result lightly because the goal was to test the playing style and check the players' physical condition. Indonesia will field the strongest squad for the rematch against Libya tomorrow, January 5. After that, Indonesia will go to Qatar and have another friendly match with Iran on January 9.

Indonesia (red shirt) will play Libya (white shirt) again tomorrow, January 5, after losing 0-4 on January 2. Photo: PSSI

Indonesia will play their first match in Group D against Iraq on January 15, followed by Vietnam on January 19 and Japan on January 24. Japan has the overwhelming strength in the group, while Iraq just beat Indonesia 5-1 in the opening match of the second round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Meanwhile, Indonesia has not beaten Vietnam since a 2-1 victory in the first leg of the 2016 AFF Cup semi-finals.

Before 2023, Indonesia had participated in the Asian Cup four times but stopped in the group stage in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2007. Coming to Qatar this time, Indonesia has a FIFA ranking of 146 - the lowest in Group D, after Vietnam (94), Iraq (63) and Japan (17).

List of Indonesian team for Asian Cup 2023

Goalkeepers (3): Syahrul Trisna (Persikabo), Muhamad Riyandi (Persis Solo), Ernando Ari (Persebaya Surabaya)

Defenders (10): Justin Hubner ( Wolverhampton ), Muhammad Edo Febriansah (Persib Bandung), Wahyu Prasetyo (PSIS Semarang), Rizky Ridho (Persija Jakarta), Jordi Amat (Johor Darul Tazim), Elkan Baggott ( Ipswich Town ), Sandy Walsh ( KV Mechelen ), Shayne Pattynama ( Viking FK ), Asnawi Mangkualam (Jeonnam Dragons), Pratama Arhan (Tokyo Verdy)

Midfielders (8): Saddil Ramdani (Sabah FC), Marc Klok (Persib Bandung), Egy Maulana Vikri, Ricky Kambuaya (Dewa United), Witan Sulaeman (Persija Jakarta), Yakob Sayuri (PSM Makassar), Marselino Ferdinan ( KMSK Deinze ), Ivar Jenner ( Jong Utrecht )

Strikers (5): Hokky Caraka (PSS Sleman), Ramadhan Sananta (Persis Solo), Dendy Sulistyawan (Bhayangkara Presisi FC), Dimas Drajad (Persikabo), Rafael Struick ( ADO Den Haag ).

Hieu Luong

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