Five players Persebaya Surabaya got a call from the Indonesian senior national team. Persebaya coach, Aji Santoso hopes that more Persebaya players will receive calls from the Indonesian national team.
Four Persebaya players flew to the UAE in preparation for the 2022 World Cup / 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers. They are Ady Setiawan, Koko Ari Araya, Rachmat Irianto and Rizky Ridho.
Meanwhile, one more name, namely Arif Satria, followed to Dubai to replace the young Ipswich Town defender, Elkan Baggott. Aji ensured that Arif’s condition was quite fit after undergoing several training sessions at Persebaya.
“Coach Nova (Arianto) called me and asked about Arif’s condition, I said Arif’s condition was good. There was no problem with his injury. Yesterday we feared a relapse, now it’s much better,” Aji said as quoted from the club’s official website.
Furthermore, the 51-year-old coach hopes that more Persebaya players will follow in the footsteps of Arif Satria cs to the Indonesian national team. According to Aji, this opportunity is quite open because Persebaya has many talented young players.
“If possible, not only Arif. There are still Supriadi, Marselino (Ferdinand), Akbar (Firmansyah), Dicky (Kurniawan), Hambali (Tolib) and other players who must be able to enter the national team,” said Aji.
“We already have their talents depending on whether they (players) want to (show) or not. Every player dreams of defending the national team.”
The five players mentioned by Aji are no more than 20 years old. Marselino became Persebaya’s youngest player at the age of 16. Dicky and Akbar are both 18 years old. Meanwhile, Supriadi and Hambali were 19 and 20 years old, respectively.
They have had several opportunities to play in the 2021 Menpora Cup. Relying on a young squad, Persebaya was able to advance to the quarter-finals before being defeated by Persib.
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