Klojen (malangkota.go.id) – The coach of the Indonesian U-19 National Team (Timnas), Indra Sjafri along with the coach of Malang United Raja Isa, Monday (19/6) visited the Mayor of Malang H. Moch. Anton. The two famous coaches were met directly by the Mayor of Malang in his office accompanied by the Head of the Youth and Sports Service (Dispora) Nuzul Nurcahyono and the Head of the Malang City Baretlinbang Drs. Wasto, SH, MH.
The U-19 National Team and Malang United themselves will play a trial match at Gajayana Stadium on Tuesday (20/6) night. During their visit, the two coaches hoped that the Mayor of Malang would be able to watch the match live.
Indra Sjafri said that the team brought is the second generation. The first generation of the U-19 National Team consisting of Evan Dimas et al. who several years ago made the public of football lovers in the country proud of the achievements they carved. "Alhamdulillah, the first generation team is currently playing in league one, and now we are doing new cultivation," said Indra Sjafri.
He emphasized that currently young people in Indonesia in terms of football are not inferior to new seeds in various other parts of the world. Therefore, Indra is very optimistic about being able to create a team from a young age that is able to succeed at various international levels, such as those that will be carried out in the near future, namely the AFF Cup and the Asian Cup.
"If someone says that our young people in football are 20 years behind other countries in Europe, that is wrong and not true. That cannot be exaggerated, because I have been to France to prove it," he said.
In fact, according to Indra Sjafri, in the U-19 National Team that he is currently coaching, there are two potential young seeds from Malang and it is hoped that in the future they will become... 'the rising star' in the world of domestic football.
Meanwhile, the Mayor of Malang, H. Moch. Anton, welcomed the arrival of the two coaches and supported the trial match held at Gajayana Stadium. Abah Anton, as the Mayor of Malang is familiarly called, said that football seeds in Indonesia must continue to be cultivated, because they will be the ones who can bring the good name of Indonesia.
"Malang is the place for football, there are many talented seeds from Malang. Many professional and national players were born from Malang. Hopefully in the future the world of Indonesian football will be better," said Abah Anton. (say/yon)
