Indonesia will be defending their title at the AFF Under-23 Championship next month in Cambodia without the use of their foreign-based players.
Head coach Shin Tae-yong said that it is important to give new and younger players the chance to shine on the international stage.
“We will try to keep the backbone of the current national team to form the national U23 side for the campaign in Cambodia,” said Tae-yong.
“So there will be no overseas players like Witan (Sulaeman), Egy (Maulana) or Asnawi (Mangkualam). Basically, we will challenge for honours with new players.”
Following the success of a youthful Indonesian side that made the final of the recent AFF Suzuki Cup 2020, confidence are running high that the team should be able to defend the title they won in 2019.
For the Cambodian assignment, Indonesia are in Group B against Malaysia, Myanmar and Laos.
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AFF UNDER-23 CHAMPIONSHIP
GROUP A: Cambodia, Timor Leste, Philippines and Brunei DS
GROUP B: Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Laos
GROUP C: Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore
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