Suara.com – Competition for the position of goalkeeper for the Indonesian National Team has recently been tight because Shin Tae-yong often changes the name of who is believed to appear as a starter.
Ahead of the 2023 Asian Cup, the South Korean tactician called three goalkeepers who were rivals in the 2023-2024 BRI Liga 1, namely Muhammad Riyandi, Syahrul Trisna and Ernando Ari.
The three of them are more trusted by Shin Tae-yong than Nadeo Argawinata, who throughout this season has helped Borneo FC top the BRI Liga 1 standings.
The intense competition in the goalkeeper post is an advantage for the Indonesian National Team ahead of the 2023 Asian Cup. Competition is considered to guarantee the quality of players who will be trusted to appear.
Even though he had to work extra hard to gain Shin Tae-yong’s trust, one of the Indonesian national team goalkeepers, Muhammad Riyandi, emphasized that the atmosphere among his colleagues was very positive.
He used the term mutual support rather than feeling like he was competing with Ernando or Syahrul in their mission to become Garuda’s number one goalkeeper in the 2023 Asian Cup.
Indonesian National Team During Training Camp in Türkiye. (pssi.org)
“What is certain is that we are actually here to support each other, there is no such thing as competition. Whoever plays, whoever our coach chooses must be all ready,” said Riyandi when met by media crew including Suara.com some time ago.
Just to remember, Muhammad Riyandi was injured for quite a long time since the end of January 2023. He only started playing in BRI Liga 1 2023/2024 last September when Persis Solo beat PSIS Semarang 2-0.
This season, Riyandi has appeared 11 times in 23 matches. Of those 11 matches, he conceded 12 times.
Riyandi said his condition was okay, there were no injury problems. Even though he admitted that he felt a little sore after the last match in BRI Liga 1, it wasn’t that big of a problem.
“Thank God, I have fully recovered, but yesterday after playing I had a slight problem in my knee,” explained Riyandi.
“We (the Indonesian National Team) have had a medical check-up. Thank God, everyone is safe, we just need to recover,” he continued.
Furthermore, Riyandi was happy to have Shin Tae-yong’s trust again. The 23 year old player promised to use all his abilities to repay this trust.
“What is certain is that I am happy and proud to be given the opportunity to be called up to strengthen the Indonesian national team. Hopefully I can give my best at TC later,” he concluded.