“Garuda, di dadaku! Garuda, kebanggaanku. Kuyakin, hari ini pasti menang!” (Garuda, on my chest! Garuda, my pride! I believe you will win today).
What a song to remember, especially after looking at the achievement of the Indonesian national team in the ongoing ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Cup, the Southeast Asian equivalent of the Euro Cup or the Copa America.
Though the prestige of the AFF Cup is surely lower than the Asia Cup, the Southeast Asian competition is a forum for developing nations such as Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia to compete under the aegis of the world soccer body, FIFA.
Indonesia, which started the AFF as an underdog, performed superbly in the group stage, scoring 13 goals on the way to win three out of three matches, including a historic 2-1 defeat of archrivals Thailand that sent Brian Robson’s squad packing.
Amid the euphoria and high expectations from the public, who want to see an end to Indonesia decades-long title drought, a controversy has arisen over the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI)’s selection of two naturalized players.
The debate centered on whether it was necessary for the Indonesian national team to recruit naturalized players and whether the team was so desperate that it could not improve its play without the help of foreign coaches or players.
Indonesia, relying on home-grown players, dominated Southeast Asian soccer at least until the 1980s. Soon after that, the Garuda seemed to have its wings clipped and plummeted into the depths.
Naturalization, a project initiated by PSSI, was deemed a quick way to vault Indonesia to the top of the international soccer world by granting citizenship to talented foreigners who would play for the nation.
Indonesia was not the first nation that grappled with the issue of naturalization. It is a common practice elsewhere in the world, such as in Singapore during the Tiger Cup in 2004.
At that time Indonesia took a blow in the final match against Singapore, most of whose players were unlikely Asians.
Such a question might also disturb the Philippines, the team Indonesia has to beat for a place in the AFF Cup final, as they are fielding eight naturalized players.
The public excused Singapore as a small country with almost no local resources. The number of its naturalized players, if any, would be very limited.
Indonesia is a huge nation when compared to Singapore, which means that we have plenty of resources to maximize the quality of our players.
Is naturalization really essential? To answer the question we’d better ask President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who in July encouraged naturalization as a fast track program to success.
Was Yudhoyono motivated after he witnessed the Dutch, a small country with a few players of Indonesian descent, fought their way into the World Cup final match? Or was it a decision influenced by Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng, the President’s close confidant?
I personally believe it will be wise for us to reassess naturalization.
Does naturalization truly benefit the development of the achievement-hungry PSSI? Awarding citizenship to foreign players does not guarantee victories.
Foreign players are likely to be in the same league as home-grown players. What is more compelling, good looks aside, is their physical conditioning.
A match requires more than meeting opponents eye-to-eye. Some believe that the Garuda badges on the jerseys of Indonesia’s players are a morale booster. It is their pride to fight for the nation despite their differences.
On the field, a team cannot be divided along ethnic or regional lines: players belong to a team
of 11 men striving for glory for one nation. Is this something that we can expect from the naturalization project?
It is clear that by recruiting more foreign players to join the national team will deprive local players of a chance to don the Red-and-White jersey, which will further confirm the PSSI’s failure to develop national soccer.
Naturalization seems unwise. The essence of any competition under FIFA is to measure the development of each nation in soccer, not merely to compete for trophies and rewards.
The fact that Indonesia has more than 235 million citizens shows that this nation is blessed with local talent as some of the national soccer team players have proven.
Some commentators have dared to say that the existence of naturalized players has added color to the game. They highlight the way Christian “el Loco” Gonzales plays a typical sweet Latin maneuver and how Irfan Bachdim runs with European speed and style.
Other experts believe that the squad’s foreign legion gives Indonesia more options in attacking or defending.
Naturalization probably is the answer to a deadlock that the national team has often encountered in many soccer competitions. But as long as naturalization remains, it will be a euphoria to enjoy and a dilemma to worry about.
The writer is an English-language student at Sanata Dharma University in Yogyakarta.
