How "The Tiger of Asia" Lost Its Claws

A thick mustache and beard framed his wrinkled face. His stare is sharp. His voice is deep and firm. At the age of 79, I Gusti Kompyang Manila still harbors a great passion for Indonesian football, keeping his dream to return the national team to the glorious position it once possessed alive.

He reminisced about his time on the field 30 years ago. At the 1991 SEA Games in the Philippines, Manila was the manager of the country's national football team. In the group stage, Indonesia was unstoppable, defeating Malaysia, Vietnam, and the host itself, Philippines, with a sweeping victory. During the semifinal, Indonesia went against Singapore in a tight match of which the winning team had to be determined through a penalty shoot-out.

The goddess of fortune apparently was on Indonesia's side that day. One step away and the trophy would officially be theirs to claim. The last standing opponent was Thailand.

In the final, Indonesia's team, which at the time was coached by Anatoli Fyodorovich Polosin, had to face another tough opponent. The match was so fierce that the two halves of the regular time and the extra time resulted in a 0-0 tie, requiring the game to proceed to a penalty shoot-out in deciding the ultimate champion.

The decisive kicks from the penalty mark called for a great deal of mental strength. Thailand had the upper hand after each of their first three kickers successfully executed a goal. Meanwhile, on the Indonesian side, Ferril Hattu and Heriansyah managed to score the ball into the net, while Maman Suryaman as the second kicker failed to do the same. The score was 3-2.

“Thailand's team was about to do the victory lap as they were on the verge to win. We remained calm because we had Edy Harto," recalled Manila to Historia.

The critical round was handled composedly by Indonesia's goalkeeper Edy Harto by demonstrating his mental maturity. He repeatedly used psywar by looking straight into the opponent's kicker's eyes, frustrating two Thai kickers from executing a goal. However, Indonesia was also on the edge. Yusuf Ekodono scored a goal, while Widodo C. Putro had no such luck. The current score was a tense tie of 3-3.

The last penalty kick had to be the ultimate determinant. Sudirman from Indonesia fortunately executed his nerve-wracking kick very well, giving Indonesia one hopeful breath. It was then Thailand's turn with Pairot Pongjan as the last executor.

Edy Harto glared at Pongjan's eyes. He didn't blink even once until Pongjan was about to kick the ball.

Manila couldn't hide his nervousness. His eyes were fixed on Pongjan, noticing the palpable tension reflected from his expression as he tried to counter Edy Harto's piercing gaze directed at him. Seconds later, Pongjan executed a powerless kick which could be easily blocked by Edy Harto. Indonesia triumphed with a score of 4-3 and officially clenched the gold medal. 

At once, euphoria spread into each and every member of the Indonesian national team. Manila bent his head and wept with joy. It didn't matter to him that the victory was achieved through a penalty shoot-out.

"The waving of our red-and-white flag accompanied by 'Indonesia Raya' was the result of a long process we went through," said Manila, ex-commander of the Military Police Education Center (PUSDIKPOM) ABRI.

That achievement was the second time after the national team's favorable outcome in 1987. Unfortunately, it was also the last triumph Indonesia's senior football team has ever celebrated. What followed was just a never-ending defeat after defeat.

The Tiger of Asia

As the truth unfolded, the success of the national team at the 1991 SEA Games apparently was not the result of a long-term effort, but rather from a recurrent series of crash programs over the course of Indonesian football history. The absence of a blueprint was accused to be the cause of the decline of Indonesian football.

"Speaking of the national team, we have to admit that whether we like it or not, there has been a major setback since the 1950s," said football pundit Kesit Budi Handoyo. 

Indonesia began to gain respect on the Asia stage since the team was trained by the Singaporean coach, Choo Seng Quee or Uncle Choo. In preparation for the Asian Games I in New Delhi, India, as cited from Mengarungi Milenium Baru: 70 Tahun PSSI, PSSI along with the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI) and Uncle Choo created several stages of regional selection. The first phase was the selection in six districts of Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi. From each district, six teams were formed and competed against each other in Jakarta and in other regions. 

KOI then evaluated and selected 18 national team players to compete in the Asian Games I. Among the chosen players were Maulwi Saelan, Tan Liong Houw, Soenardi Arland, Ramang, and Aang Witarsa. 

Even though they only reached the quarter final of the 1951 Asian Games, the national team as a whole was deemed as a force to be reckoned with in the Asian football scene. In the hands of Antun Pogačnik, a Yugoslavian coach, Ramang and his teammates were able to balance the Soviet Union team with a 0-0 draw in the quarter final of the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, snatch the runner-up position at the 1957 Pestabola Merdeka, win bronze medal in the 1958 Asian Games, and almost qualify for the World Cup if only President Sukarno didn't interfere ahead of the team's match against Israel. Since then, Indonesia was dubbed the coveted epithet "The Tiger of Asia".

In the 1960s, Indonesia achieved victory in many tournaments, including the Aga Khan Gold Cup (1961), Pestabola Merdeka (1961, 1962 and 1969), and the King's Cup (1968). However, an imminent decline had lurked behind the shadows of those glorious wins.

"The other countries had started to develop their football and at that time we already possessed a strong potential, but it didn't go hand in hand with the management of the football development system in Indonesia," said Kesit Budi Handoyo.

Despite the national team's brilliant performance, that past achievement surely can't be used as a benchmark, as the situation of the present-day football industry is far different and much more complex.

"If we compare our situation with other countries', we can see that we rely solely on talent. We don't have a system, structure, and ability to manage football consistently," said senior journalist Budiarto Shambazy. 

<div class="strect-width-img"><figure><div><img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/61af270884f7a0580d35618e/61fa2e36cc484d54acf42697_Timnas%20Indonesia%20di%20Piala%20Merdeka%201962.jpg" alt="img"></div><figcaption>Indonesian national team at the 1962 Merdeka Cup. (Dok Maulwi Saelan)</figcaption></figure></div>

It's not that a blueprint was never made. Although not specifically targeted to football, President Sukarno once issued a 10-Year Sports Plan that was established as a national program containing five basic agendas: mass sports movement, intensive expansion of sports movement among students, the coaching of potential athletes in each sport branch, provision of sports facilities and infrastructure, and the consolidation and establishment of the Games of the New Emerging Forces (Ganefo) I.

Each main sport had its own coaching agendas and programs. In the football scene, one of the outcomes was Soeratin Cup, a tournament created to develop young talents. 

"We mustn't be satisfied with just having Djamiat (Dalhar), Saelan, Liong Houw, Ramlan, and the others. We should have hundreds more excellent players like them, or even better than what we’ve ever had," said the Minister of Sports R. Maladi at the opening of the 1966 Soeratin Cup, as quoted from Warta Berita, April 14, 1966.

However, the implementation of the 10-Year Sports Plan fell short of expectation, and to make matters worse, PSSI missed the chance to make it as a guide.

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Comprehensive Guide

Indonesian football finally had a tailored blueprint after PSSI was chaired by Ali Sadikin , former governor of DKI Jakarta, who issued the National Football Coaching System (PPSN), one of the guidelines established at the 27th PSSI Congress in 1981.

"I think PPSN was one of the biggest breakthroughs in Indonesian football because it was very relevant and comprehensive in detailing what to do," said Budiarto.

The realization of PPSN was in the form of two competitions called Perserikatan (Union) and Galatama. In addition, there were also the Employee Football League (Galakarya), Student Football League (Galasiswa), Women's Football League (Galanita) and Kartini Cup. Galatama as a semi-professional competition sat at the top of the youth coaching pyramid, while Perserikatan was the highest level of football competition in Indonesia.

To coach the young players, each club in Perserikatan was required to hold a competition. As quoted from the PSSI Bulletin Pedoman Pembinaan Sepakbola Nasional published in 1995, every Perserikatan club must carry out six stages: Building Awareness (8-12 years), Talent Scouting (12-16 years), Stabilization (16-19 years), Maturation (16-23 years), Accelerating Performance (19-30 years), and Peak Performance.

However, PSSI was constrained by limited funding issues. The immediate impact was that only Perserikatan clubs in Java had the chance to hold internal competitions, while in the Central and Eastern Indonesia region, the only club that held the competition was PSM Makassar. The competitions were run perfunctory and not-tiered. As a result, there was no coaching continuity from the age group of 18 to the senior level.

"The coaching must be in a tiered competition and it has to be held every Saturday and Sunday. For example, the age group of 16, 18, 20, 23, and seniors," said Manila. "Players can't join the national team without passing the junior level."

<div class="flex-content-podcast"><figure class="img-left"><div><img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/61af270884f7a0580d35618e/61fa2e49266fba08e7317720_Intersection%204.jpg" alt="img"></div><figcaption>Dutch East Indies national team at the 1938 World Cup. (Shutterstock)</figcaption></figure><div class="img-right"><div class="podcast-container"><img alt="person" class="entered loaded" data-ll-status="loaded" src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/61af270884f7a0580d35618e/61fa2e53f7123b9bcb9bcdfc_Intersection%203.jpg"><div class="audio-podcast"><audio controls controlsList="nodownload"><source src="https://d220hvstrn183r.cloudfront.net/premium/kenapa-timnas-indonesia-kalah-melulu/IGK%20Manila.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">Your browser does not support the audio element.</audio></div></div><div class="caption"><span><b>Ex-Manager of the National Team, Mayjen (Purn) I Gusti Kompyang Manila.</b><br>(Fernando Randy/Historia.ID)</span></div></div></div>

Another weakness of PPSN was the use of 3-5-2 formation for all age groups, which posed a problem since most young players were not ready to have the same coaching method as the junior and senior groups. 

"The foundation is not strong enough, yet they're forced to go through the methods that are actually unsuitable for them. It was a bit risky,” said Kesit.

The PPSN complication was exacerbated following the infamous bribery scandal at the Galatama competition which led to the semi-professional competition to be completely disbanded. The remnants of Galatama clubs were merged with Perserikatan clubs, forming Indonesian League (Liga Indonesia) in 1994. Most of Liga Indonesia's participants depended their livelihood on the local budgets. 

"When Galatama and Perserikatan were merged into Liga Indonesia, the goal was to create a professional league. But if we examine further, the management was actually still amateur,” explained Kesit.

The youth coaching in each club was ultimately done half-heartedly as not all clubs had the budget to carry out the coaching program. The clubs' budget had been allocated mostly for the competitions, which technically needed a bigger budget considering Indonesia's large geographical area.

“The tiered competitions in both youth and junior level didn't go well. Although now we have competition for the youth level like the U-19, the competition for U-17 and U-16 still don't exist. The competition should've been tiered so the players can be regularly monitored. Also, every club in Indonesia must participate, especially the clubs proclaiming themselves as professional clubs," he added.

Unfortunately, PSSI didn't strictly supervise the tiered coaching system in each of the league's participating clubs. According to ex-player and coach Timo Scheunemann, PSSI clearly focuses on the senior-level league that brings in more cash from sponsors. Subsequently, there was no tiered coaching at all and the national team was formed from players coming from the short-term programs. 

“It is definitely PSSI's responsibility as Indonesia’s sole football association. They should bear the responsibility. They can't just focus on the national team," said Timo.

PPSN was eventually abandoned although there was never an official statement issued regarding its revocation. Over time, it was completely forgotten. 

“The PPSN which was formulated and used as the blueprint for PSSI at that time was actually very comprehensive. But still, it wasn’t implemented," said Kesit.

Although PPSN's implementation was still very far from the public expectation, the system had brought the Indonesian national team to clinch two regional achievements: gold medals at the 1987 SEA Games and the 1991 SEA Games. However, those achievements were practically an anomaly. The national team's preparation for the 1991 SEA Games, for instance, highlighted the discipline aspect with the use of military-style training. In the early weeks, the training negatively affected the physicality of the players as they gradually withdrew either due to their incapability to perform well or simply giving up to the training. Three of the withdrawn players were Jaya Hartono, Ansyari Lubis, and Fakhri Husaini.

"Their physicality improved, but they lost their playing technique. At the time, Jaya Hartono and Fakhri Husaini even said to the coach, 'we play football, so why are we trained like soldiers?'. I called them and I sent them home," recalled Manila, the national team's manager back then.

As a matter of fact, the national team's success at the 1991 SEA Games didn't come from a continuing effort, but rather from a recurrent series of crash programs over the course of Indonesian football history. 

On December 17, 1991, PSSI held a congress. Azwar Anas, the new general chairman of PSSI succeeding Kardono, gathered many coaches in a forum called Coaching Technical Council, whose goal was to reformulate a coaching system to replace PPSN. The outcome was the Indonesian Football Coaching System (P3I), which was actually initiated by Kardono at the end of his term, with the assistance of Dimas Wahab and Arthur Wenas. P3I adopted the coaching system in Germany which combines professional clubs with Football School (SSB) or associations under the clubs. The promotion and relegation system was applied in the structure to encourage the clubs in producing the best quality players. Unfortunately, this idea was relentlessly rejected because it may reform the existing system especially at the level of club coaching.

PSSI continued to finalize P3I while holding a number of seminars attended by many coaches. In 1994, PSSI even gathered opinions from several world football figures such as "the Father of Total Football" Rinus Michels and Franz "Der Kaizer" Beckenbauer. 

With the inputs from Michels and Beckenbauer, PSSI prepared the P3I by also incorporating several things from PPSN such as the use of 3-5-2 formation at the national level. In PPSN, the 3-5-2 formation wasn't implemented because there weren't many coaches who understood the formation. To solve the apparent problem, PSSI planned to invite foreign instructors to provide training for the coaches.

PSSI also established the Directorate of Youth Coaching to monitor the young talents in tiered competitions. There were four cities selected as the coaching centers: Medan, Makassar, Surabaya, and Bandung. The program ran in conjunction with the coach education agenda as the coaches will be the centers’ instructors and be responsible to provide evaluations every three months to the head of PSSI’s Technical and Coaching Division.

However, just like the prior blueprint, P3I’s implementation was lacking. First, the club-level coachings were not executed properly. Many tiered competitions, particularly at the grassroots level, were not held. P3I, which went through formal establishment in a congress and took around five years to finalize, was ultimately abandoned without any official revocation. 

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The Curriculum 

In 2012, Timo Scheunemann was appointed as the director of PSSI Youth Coaching. To fill in the absence of a coaching blueprint, he introduced the Indonesian Football Curriculum: for Early Ages (U5-U12), Young Ages (U13-U20) & Seniors. The blueprint was based on the results of his research in remote areas in Indonesia, his study of the coaching system in Germany, and him borrowing 45 of hundreds of pages from the curriculum of the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) which includes the management of the players' and coaches' mental strength.

The mentoring and training of the coaches are naturally a part of the curriculum. Timo's agenda was to create a centralized academy to motivate the coaches to not only achieve the D (National) License but also the C, B, and A (AFC) Licenses. To him, the mentality of the players can be optimally improved if the coach is not only proficient in the tactic and strategy department, but also in becoming a role model.

"If a coach becomes a role model for the players, not only will it affect their ability on the field, but also their personal strength by developing strong character," said Timo.

Another prominent difference of the curriculum designed by Timo with PPSN and P3I was on the technicalities of the game in which the 4-4-2 formation was used rather than the 3-5-2. The 4-4-2 pattern was considered by Timo as easier to be modified into other patterns needed on the field, and based on the fact that the pattern itself was also implemented in many developed countries.

The curriculum encompasses the portion, program, and frequency of the technical and physicality training materials which were also given in stages to each age group from U-5 to U-20. Furthermore, the curriculum also detailed steps in handling injuries and illness like flu. Most importantly, it was equipped with a scouting or talent search scheme for the teams trained under the clubs, as in fact, most clubs never carried out a professional scouting since both the PPSN and P3I eras.

"It seems that they are not serious about signing players. If they had a professional scout, the impact would be incredible. Players in remote areas will also have the opportunity to become a pro player. I'll keep on doubting the seriousness of the Indonesian clubs before they have a professional scout," said Timo firmly. 

All of his programs were expected to be managed under a platform called Akademi Nusantara (Nusantara Academy), in addition to the centralization of coach and referee training. However, the curriculum didn't receive enough support from PSSI, driving Timo to finally give up his position. The curriculum was then discarded by PSSI who once again chose the easy road by running crash programs and depending on naturalization to sign players.

"All of those programs are actually feasible to do in Indonesia, and believe me, if they do it, Indonesia will certainly be on par with Brazil," said Timo excitedly.

Shortly after, in 2017, PSSI Technical Director Danurwindo developed a kind of blueprint which was called Indonesian Football Coaching Curriculum or famously called Filanesia Curriculum. Danur mentioned that Filanesia, which stands for Filosofi Sepakbola Indonesia (Indonesian Football Philosophy), will emphasize the coaching method that is pursuant to Indonesian players' biggest strengths: speed and agility. Similar to its predecessors, the implementation of Filanesia remained unclear.

The curriculum itself is summarized into six chapters. The content is mainly similar to the 2012 curriculum, but technically, there are several differences. The Filanesia curriculum applied the 1-4-3-3 formation to leverage Indonesia's typical style of play, which can be developed into 1-2-3-2-3 as an attacking pattern. This subjective choice of PSSI was based on the thought that the 1-4-3-3 formation is the easiest one for the young players to learn.

<div class="flex-content-podcast"><figure class="img-left"><div><img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/61af270884f7a0580d35618e/61fa2e78811481175c575aa8_Intersection%205.jpg" alt="img"></div><figcaption>Timo Scheunemann giving instructions to Persiba Balikpapan players. (Fernando Randy/Historia)</figure><div class="img-right"><div class="podcast-container"><img alt="person" class="entered loaded" data-ll-status="loaded" src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/61af270884f7a0580d35618e/61fa2e7c81148164e5575ab5_Intersection%206.jpg"><div class="audio-podcast"><audio controls controlsList="nodownload"><source src="https://d220hvstrn183r.cloudfront.net/premium/kenapa-timnas-indonesia-kalah-melulu/Timo.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">Your browser does not support the audio element.</audio></div></div><div class="caption"><span><b>Timo Scheunemann.</b><br>(Fernando Randy/Historia.ID)</span></div></div></div>

First, the same number of players are allocated to each of the three lines (defensive, midfield, offensive). Logically, if ten players (not including the goalkeeper) are divided into the three lines, each line will have three players while the one remaining player is positioned at the back, creating a 1-4-3-3 formation. Second, the standing position of the 11 players on the field are naturally in the form of a triangle and diamond. This ideal condition can even be achieved without the need from the players to do many movements. This ideal condition, as written in the Filanesia Curriculum, can affect the game positively.

The coaching stages of Filanesia were divided into four phases: Fun Phase (6-9 years old), Skill Development Phase (10-13), Game Development Phase (14-17), and Performance Phase (18+). PSSI applied Filanesia to all Football Schools, academy teams competing in the Soeratin Cup, and the Elite Pro Academy (EPA), a new league established by PSSI in 2018. EPA draws participation from club academies that are part of the U-16 league, with the addition of the U-19 in the subsequent year.

"The playing philosophy of the Elite Pro Academy will always be based on the Indonesian Football Philosophy (Filanesia). Filanesia is the playing method chosen by the Elite Pro Academy to escalate the quality of football game to a higher level”, as cited from Buku Panduan Elite Pro Academy: Kerjasama PSSI-Klub Liga 1.

However, aside from U-16, there is no other competition that serves as a platform for tiered coaching. Even in EPA, there are only 18 teams from Liga 1 (League 1) participating, while the other second-tiered, third-tiered, and regional competitions under the auspices of Asosiasi Provinsi (Province Association or Asprov) of PSSI didn't participate as it was not required by PSSI. On the other hand, the EPA for Liga 2 (League 2) never happens ever since the PSSI Congress in January 2020.

In addition to its minimal number of participation, the impact of EPA isn't optimal due to its inconsistency in holding competition. One of the instances was the cancellation of EPA 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Even if EPA is run very professionally, the foundation, which is the local competitions, still lacks. The key is for each Asprov to hold competitions among the SSB in their region," continued Timo.

Filanesia indeed is not as detailed as the 2012 Curriculum especially on the guidelines regarding the players mental strength, scouting, and the prevention and handling of injury.

"This (2012) curriculum actually is in line with Filanesia and they both can be implemented at the same time. The principles are practically similar as they both comprise modern football curriculum. The only difference is Filanesia is less detailed than the more comprehensive 2012 curriculum. Therefore, Filanesia has to be further developed for it to include more details in the future," said Timo.

The Frequent Change of System 

The crushing defeat after defeat suffered by the national team is the result of the accumulation of problems that have existed and been unsolved for far too long. The situation is worsened by the constant internal conflict of PSSI, which ironically serves as the governing body of national football.

"The problem of Indonesian football is already too much to handle as it is not only about the forming or establishment of the team itself, but also regarding the organizational management, which in this case is the management of PSSI," explained Kesit.

The bitter truth is, Indonesia never learns from its own history. The handling of problems was done impetuously and not in a holistic and long-term way, which is quite obvious from the way PSSI repeatedly changes the team's coach and prefers to run crash programs by sending the team to train in countries advanced in football. The crash programs have been running since 1979 and have involved participation of PSSI Binatama (Brazil), PSSI Garuda I and II (Brazil), PSSI U-19 (Chile), and PSSI Primavera and Baretti (Italy). 

The result is very much the same: zero title.

"That's the problem in Indonesia. Everything is done not in a continuous and holistic way. Why? PSSI is still very political and most clubs still have the mindset that coaching is just a burden, and these conflicts result in a clash," said Timo Scheunemann.

As if it's not enough, from 2007 to 2012 PSSI sent U-16 players labeled as Sociedad Anonima Deportiva (SAD) to Uruguay. The players from SAD managed to score an impressive achievement by winning the U-19 2013 AFF Championship. In that event, the SAD alumni were integrated with players who got scouted by coach Indra Sjafri, such as Evan Dimas Darmono and M. Hargianto. However, when those players joined the senior national team, the result was disappointing.

"That is one of our weaknesses, we only think about the short-term actions. We refuse to trust a long process, even though the crash programs never show a satisfying result. We shouldn't persist in doing the same approach. I think the budget should be allocated to hold youth coaching competitions,” said Kesit.

Since 2019 until recently, PSSI has sent the Garuda Select team to train in England. Even though the program hasn't resulted in anything yet, the great change of direction will definitely require more energy. 

All those interrelated and cumulative problems eventually shape the face of the present-day Indonesian football. The solution has to be done in a comprehensive and holistic way. The management of PSSI has to be reformed. The grassroots coaching has to be revamped and has to encompass players, coaches, and referees. The competitions have to be held consistently from the academy clubs to the senior level.

"The other countries had successfully solved their challenges, making them far more advanced than us who are still dealing with countless persisting problems. It's like the other countries are already running while we are still walking," said Budiarto.

Despite we're still slowly walking, the target was set as high as the sky: in 2045, when Indonesia celebrates its 100 years of independence, PSSI has to be among the 10 best football federations in the world. Meanwhile, the long-term goal is the country's participation in the 2024 Olympiad and the 2034 World Cup. To actualize those goals, PSSI is preparing several elements that have to exist mutually: organization, football development, competition, business activity, and national team.

But before that, PSSI has to achieve this year's target: a gold medal at the SEA Games and becoming the trophy holder of the AFF Championship. SEA Games will be held in Vietnam on 21 December, while the 2020 AFF Championship will be happening on 5 December after being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

To date, there are only two occasions when Indonesia got the winning title of the SEA Games football, while at the AFF Championship, the prestigious football tournament in Southeast Asia first held in 1996, Indonesia has never experienced the sweet taste of victory.

Come on Indonesia, let's break our cycle of defeats.