Shin Tae-yong appointed head coach of Indonesian national football team

Shin Tae-young, 49, arrived in South Korea on Sunday after signing a four-year contract with the Football Association of Indonesia to coach the Indonesia national football team on Saturday. Under the deal, he will guide Indonesia’s Adult, U-23 and U-20 national teams. Coming back from a break he has taken since the end of the 2018 Russia World Cup, the former South Korean Adult team head coach showed great enthusiasm for taking on a new challenge in Southeast Asia.

“Indonesia’s FIFA ranking is low at 173, but I will help them move forward step by step,” Shin said. “I will build a resilient team which does not slow down in the second half.” He will work together again with the so-called “Shin Tae-yong team,” which includes coach Gong Oh-kyun, goalkeeper coach Kim Hae-woon and physical coach Lee Jae-hong.

Shin will likely focus on managing the U-20 team that will play in the 2021 FIFA U-20 World Cup Indonesia as there is a low possibility that the Indonesian senior team will make it to the 2022 World Cup Qatar final qualifiers, ranked bottom in Group G in Asia’s second round of the qualifiers. “I was told that the U-20 World Cup is drawing much attention in Indonesia even from the president,” Shin said. “I will do my best to produce great results.”


Yun-Cheol Jeong trigger@donga.com