Three 'formidable' naturalized players of the Indonesian team in the match against the Vietnamese team

No matter what formation they play, Asnawi Mangkualam, Witan Sulaeman, Elkan Baggott are all good.Coach Shin Tae-yong used to refresh the style of playIndonesia team. For a long time, the Indonesian team's playing style has tended to focus on using strength, long balls and high crosses. Mr. Shin wants to gradually adjust the playing style of this archipelago country.

Main Stone Face

At the AFF Cup, defender Asnawi Mangkualam started while Witan Sulaeman and Elkan Baggott often came off the bench. These are players who were promoted to the national team early despite their young age, but have played in advanced football backgrounds.

Witan Sulaeman in the Indonesian U23 team shirt.

Vice-captain Asnawi Mangkualam (14), who plays in South Korea at Ansan Greener Club in the K.League 2, plays an important role on the right wing. Asnawi is a young talent of Indonesian football, when he was 18 years old, he played for PSM in the national championship. At only 22 years old, playing 11 matches for the national team, Asnawi Mangkualam was trusted as vice-captain, responsible for taking penalty kicks, showing the trust his teammates have in this young player.

Only 1.70m tall, he is a complete defensive and offensive player, the key to the victory over Laos thanks to his good position on the field. Asnawi Mangkualam destroyed the left wing of the Laos team thanks to his good physical strength and constant movement. Asnawi's crosses from the right wing are something that Vietnamese central defenders must pay attention to because of their high accuracy.

Two tactical reserves

In Garuda's style of play, striker number 8 Witan Sulaeman plays an important role when attacking the flanks. At the age of 18, he left his homeland to start his journey to Serbia, landing at Radnik Surdulica. Before turning 20 last October, Witan moved to play in the Polish National Championship with Lechia Gdansk. This player used to play for Indonesia U19 and was "nailed" to use on the right wing but could switch wings or move into the middle.

Vice-captain and defender Asnawi Mangkualam of Indonesia. Photo by Ansan Greener.

In the Indonesian National Team, winger Witan Sulaeman often plays as a reserve for his senior K.Yudo (9). If K.Yudo focuses on speed, Sulaeman focuses on individual technique, just like Van Toan of Vietnam. Having played in the Serbian championship, this small player has very good individual technique, a real opponent for Hong Duy. He had an assist to increase the score to 4-1 in the 5-1 victory over the Lao National Team.

The third player we want to mention is Elkan Baggott (30), who is only 19 years old. At the AFF Cup, Elkan Baggott did not play in the Cambodia match because he arrived late in Singapore. In fact, Elkan Baggott has never played in the Premier League, only 7 matches for U23 Ipswich Town. He came on in the second half of the match against Laos and played prominently in the central midfield position, replacing R. Irianto (13). At that time, the score was 2-1, but coach Shin Tae-Yong still trusted and gave this young player the opportunity to take charge of the midfield area to prepare for the match against Vietnam.

Elkan Baggott was born in Thailand, of British and Indonesian descent. Standing at 1.90m tall, midfielder Baggott is expected by Shin Tae-Yong to reduce the destructive power of Vietnam's attack when the team from the archipelago switches to playing on the wing and heading the ball. Having only played 2 matches for the Indonesian team, Elkan Baggott still needs time to integrate with his teammates.

We will witness an interesting confrontation between the naturalized Indonesian players and the young players Hoang Duc and Tan Tai of the Vietnam National Team. Let's see how the two Korean coaches will use them in the match where the winner will take the ticket to the semi-finals.