Shin Tae-yong’s Teachings in the Indonesian National Team: Hard Not Rough

KOMPAS.com – Since Shin Tae-yong first handled the Indonesian national team from the beginning of 2020, he always chatted about physical, stamina, and mental.

Shin Tae-yong straightforwardly said that Indonesia was only able to play 60 minutes, after which it “runs out of gas”.

Then, the South Korean coach said that Indonesian players were not so tall.

While he is always looking for players who have a fairly tall stature, especially defenders and striker.

Also read: Korean media: Shin Tae-yong has hope, Park Hang-seo needs a miracle

In terms of mentality, Shin thinks that Indonesian players don’t dare to duel, they have been sluggish before competing.

“In training, you must have a strong mentality. Mentally not good will not be chosen for sure,” said Shin Tae-yong quoted from PSSI’s official YouTube account, December 2020.

It has been two years since Shin Tae-yong has polished the Indonesian national team from the U-19, U-23, and senior levels.

The three things that were initially highlighted by Shin gradually saw the results, especially when the Indonesian national team took part in the 2020 AFF Cup.

Results and Surprises

Surprise after surprise came in the preliminary round of Group B of the AFF Cup 2020.

Also read: Dissecting the Indonesian National Team Squad in the 2020 AFF Cup

The Indonesian national team, which was initially underestimated, came out as group winners, above the strongest team, namely Vietnam.

The first surprise came through a 0-0 draw against Vietnam. Shin Tae-yong was praised for being able to put up a solid defense for 90 minutes.

Remarkably, Vietnam was only able to make a kick towards the goal from the 21 experiments they made.

This figure certainly shows how strong Shin Tae-yong’s concoction defense is.

Then Indonesia’s big 4-1 victory over Malaysia which also passed Indonesia to the 2020 AFF Cup semifinals as group winners.

Also read: Indonesia Vs Malaysia, Shin Tae-yong Silences Disparaging chatter

Rated Aggressive

The Indonesian national team game under coach Shin Tae-yong showed high aggressiveness.

The Garuda squad was forced to play with a fairly high pressing line.

“Indonesia is playing aggressively, we cannot underestimate them. We will try to do our best as a team,” said Singapore coach Tatsuma Yoshida ahead of the first leg of Singapore vs Indonesia, Tuesday (21/12/2021).

However, Shin Tae-yong denied it. He said his players don’t like to play physical fights.

“I don’t think we are aggressive like what is said on social media,” said Shin, after the Singapore vs Indonesia match, Wednesday (12/22/2021).

Also read: Profile of Ikhsan Fandi, Singapore striker with Indonesian blood

“Since the first time I came to Indonesia, not many players played with the body and the players didn’t like it either.”

“However, in the development of football, there must be a normal playing body and players understand that,” he explained.

Hard, but Not Rough

Shin Tae-yong’s teachings, which always want players to be physically, mentally and physically strong, do not mean they have to be harsh.

“Until now, the players are being trained to be physically stronger, but that doesn’t mean they are violent to the point of injuring their opponents,” he stressed.

Also read: Indonesian National Team and Memories of Penalty Shootouts

On the other hand, Shin Tae-yong was seen getting angry with the referee when his player was violated or dropped by an opponent.

However, after the match, Shin understood all the referee’s decisions even though they were actually detrimental to the Indonesian national team.

“However, if the referee did make a wrong decision on the pitch, we still have to respect it,” said Shin when asked about the referee’s decision not to award a penalty after Ricky Kambuaya was fouled in the opponent’s penalty box, Wednesday (12/22/2021).

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