Three Local Coaches Who Guided Indonesia to Win the AFF Cup

JAKARTA, NETRALNEWS.COM - The achievements of the Indonesian national men\'s football team at the junior level are unquestionable. These players are able to make Indonesia proud in the international arena, particularly at the AFF Cup.

The Indonesian national men\'s team from U-16 to U-22 have managed to win the championship title. The situation is different with the senior national team, who are dubbed as runner-up specialists in the AFF Cup.

Interestingly, there are three great local coaches who had guided the Indonesian national men\'s team to win the AFF Cup at the U-16 to U-22 junior levels. The names of three local coaches are Indra Sjafri, Fakhri Husaini, and Bima Sakti, and they have made Indonesia proud by winning the AFF Cup.

Amazingly, the three coaches came from local talents who brought the Indonesian national team to become the king of Southeast Asian football at the junior level. Of the three local coaches, Indra Sjafri twice brought the Indonesian national team to win the U-19 and U-22 AFF Cup.

Indra Sjafri first led the Indonesian national team to win the 2013 edition of the AFF U-19 Cup in Sidoarjo, East Java. At that time, the U-19 Indonesian National Team under Evan Dimas defeated Vietnam on penalties in the final.

Indra Sjafri again guided the Indonesian national team to win the 2019 edition of the AFF U-22 Cup and also beat Thailand with a score of 2-1 in the final. This is the first championship for the Indonesian National Team to win the AFF U-22 Cup.

Fakhri Husaini made his name in history after leading the U-16 Indonesian National Team to win the 2018 edition of the AFF U-16 Cup. In the final match, the U-16 Indonesian National Team defeated Vietnam on penalties.

The most recent was Bima Sakti Tukiman who took the U-16 Indonesian National Team as the winners of the 2022 edition of the AFF U-16 Cup. Bima Sakti proved his coaching talents when bringing the U-16 Indonesian National Team to beat Vietnam with a score of 1-0 in the final on August 12, 2022.

Unfortunately, at the senior level, the Indonesian national team has not even won when trained by local or foreign coaches. The best achievement for the senior Indonesian national team is being runner-up six times.

Lastly, foreign coach Shin Tae-yong also only guided the senior Indonesian national team to finish as runner-up in the 2020 AFF Cup. Shin Tae-yong was also only able to bring the Indonesian national team to win bronze medal at the 2021 SEA Games.

The biggest challenge for local and foreign coaches managing the Indonesian national men\'s football team today is winning in the senior Indonesian national level to win the AFF Cup. Well, the challenge is a test for Shin Tae-yong ahead of the 2022 AFF Cup.

Can Shin Tae-yong\'s cold-handed management remove the runner-up curse by making the Indonesian national team the 2022 AFF Cup champion? We will have to see for Shin Tae-yong to make his magic happen.