Failing to pass the AFF Cup group stage, President of the Indonesian Football Federation reprimands coach Shin Tae-yong

Coach Shin Tae-yong cited the reason of only using young players to justify the Indonesian team's failure to pass the group stage of the 2024 AFF Cup. However, President of the Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI) Erick Thohir did not think that was a valid reason.

" From the beginning, I said that our goal in this AFF Cup is to play our best. Speaking of playing our best, with this coach and these players, the Indonesian team must at least reach the semi-finals. Therefore, in terms of achievements, of course PSSI will have an assessment," said the billionaire head of Indonesia's football governing body.

The Indonesian team did not pass the group stage of the AFF Cup 2024.

The Indonesian Football Federation will evaluate the performance of coach Shin Tae-yong, his entire coaching staff and players. The South Korean coach has just renewed his contract until 2024. However, he is constantly reminded every time the Indonesian team does not have good results.

"I want to beat Myanmar, Laos and the Philippines. Losing to Vietnam is normal for a young team. If the players give their all until the semi-finals and then lose, that's fine too.

The goal is the semi-finals, even with a young team. We expect to win against Myanmar, Laos, Philippines, Vietnam. Everything is possible but this is football. Football is full of drama," said Mr. Erick Thohir.

At the 2024 AFF Cup, the Indonesian team used U22 players. Only Asnawi Mangkualam was over 22 years old. The number of players who had never played for the national team before was up to 24 people. However, even the players with international experience of the archipelago team did not play well in this tournament.

A 0-1 home defeat to the Philippines eliminated Indonesia from the 2024 AFF Cup. Coach Shin Tae-yong's team finished the tournament with 1 win, 1 draw and 2 losses. The Korean coach once again emphasized that using only a young squad was the main reason why the team from the archipelago nation did not have good results.

"You can say this is a failure because we could not reach the semi-finals. However, I think differently. In this tournament, we only used a young team. If we used the strongest team, I am sure Indonesia would have won the championship ," CNN Indonesia quoted coach Shin Tae-yong.