Good Luck for Garuda during Disaster

Disasters have brought good luck for the Indonesian Under-19 national soccer team, which has been hard hit by the pandemic. They are currently part of a training program in Croatia.

KOMPAS/TOTOK WIJAYANTO

The Indonesian national team coach Shin Tae-Yong monitored the training and selection process for U-19 players before the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic in January 2020. Training was held at the Wibawa Mukti Stadium, Cikarang, Bekasi, West Java.

The image of a busy year, full of media attention, and having a great amount of savings has suddenly disappeared in the minds of “Garuda Muda” team players, such as David Maulana, since the coronavirus emerged in the country several months ago.

Many soccer players including members of the national team, known as the Garuda team, were unemployed due to the termination of national soccer competitions, such as Liga 1 and Liga 2 Indonesia, since March. Most of the players and coaching staff only received just half of their salary as their soccer clubs suffered acute financial problems.