Aditya Arya Nugraha, 19, the team’s goalkeeper, could only speak in a hollow tone to The Jakarta Post on March 31 at the Sultan Hotel where the players resided.

Aditya has experienced tragedies that have recently occurred in the Indonesian soccer scene. He saw how the U-20 World Cup was postponed due to the pandemic in 2021. Then, the Persebaya goalkeeper witnessed the deathly Kanjuruhan Stampede, which killed over 130 people, from the bench after the match. And now, his dream of playing in the U-20 World Cup is shattered.

“All of our hard work these last couple of years, it was all in vain,” Aditya said to the Post on Friday. “We are all devastated, saddened and dismayed. We all cried together,” he said.

Another player, Dimas Juliono Pamungkas, 18, echoed the same sentiments. “It's a long-awaited dream for us to play in such an international competition as the World Cup,” he shared with the Post on the same day.

“It’s every player’s dream to play in one of soccer’s biggest competitions,” the central defensive midfielder expressed. 

Sacrificed for nothing

“For this [U-20 World Cup], we have had to give up everything, from time with our families to risking our health,” Dimas said.

The Tasikmalayan pride has been training for a professional soccer career since elementary school. He and the rest of the team have given a lot to the cause. 

“We have undergone extensive physical and mental preparation for this,” Dimas added, explaining how he had to compete with over 100 players across Indonesia to be in the national team. 

Hope for the best: Dimas Juliono Pamungkas, who plays for Bhayangkara FC and the Young Garuda team, wishes that the national team would get more opportunities in the future to compete against the best players in the world. (JP/Yohana Belinda) (JP/Yohana Belinda)

Only 23 players made it to the cut of Shin Tae-yong’s squad.

The Young Garuda team had trained together for two years. They participated in training camps abroad in Turkey, South Korea and Spain. Each day they trained three to four times a day.

“Being a goalkeeper is not an easy job. You’re the team’s last line of defense,” Aditya said.

Hugo Samir, one of the most celebrated players on the team, also shared the hardships that he and his family went through to achieve his dream.

“My mom, even when she was sick, took me to training from our home in Surabaya to Sidoarjo, which could take one to two hours, sometimes in the rain,” Hugo told the Post on April 1 through a call. 

Hugo was a soccer fan ever since he was “a baby,” he said. At only six years old, he joined the U-10 team of the Real Madrid Foundation (now known as the Indonesia Soccer Academy) in Sidoarjo in 2010.

Aditya, the eldest of three sons in a family of soccer enthusiasts, had a similar journey. His parents were the ones who suggested him in being a goalkeeper after seeing his potential. And to his surprise, it fit him well, ever a fan of Malang goalkeeper Kurnia Meiga.

“Ever since the start, my parents were my biggest supporters,” he said.

Which was why, when the news broke, part of Aditya’s pain was not being able to make his parents proud on the international stage.

Hugo, whose father is an Indonesian highly-influential soccer player and manager, Jacksen F. Tiago, also thought a similar thing. 

“Soccer is my life and one true love,” Hugo expressed. “And since my father is a respected soccer player, I would like to surpass his achievements.”

Jacksen F. Tiago brought many successes to Persipura Jayapura in the 2010s as the club’s manager and eventually the national team’s manager in 2013.

Black ribbons for support: After learning that Indonesia would not be hosting the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup, players and fans gather at FX Senayan, South Jakarta, to express their disappointment by wearing black ribbons. (Courtesy of CentennialZ) (Personal collection/Courtesy of CentennialZ)

And the World Cup was supposed to be a chance for Hugo to change his image for the better. He was banned from playing for a year in 2021 after an incident when he hit a referee during a match.

“I would like to redeem myself and prove to everyone that I am not a brat, as many have labeled me,” Hugo added. 

Aditya revealed that one of his sacrifices was formal education, attending the Aji Santoso International Football Academy (ASIFA) in Malang in 2019 and focusing solely on soccer.

“I’d started going to school less ever since junior high school because of the football academy,” Aditya said.

Despite finally getting to Persebaya three years after joining the academy, Aditya did occasionally feel envious of his classmates who were more academically successful than he was.

“There were times when I felt isolated from my peer group,” he said.

But his parents, ever so supportive, cheered him on to thrive in the field he is talented in.

“My parents would always comfort me and reassure me that it was okay,” Aditya said.

For most players, soccer is all or nothing. Some have no idea what to do if their soccer career fails.

“I'm at a loss for what to do if soccer doesn't work out. Apart from soccer, I have no other knowledge or skills because I haven't had a formal education since I was in junior high,” Aditya said.

Hope for the future 

Having had the World Cup in Indonesia did more than just boost the country's profile. It allowed young players to develop their sense of competition. 

“We would have been able to show that Indonesia can also compete at such a high level on the international soccer scene and that Indonesia has its own soccer talents,” Dimas said. 

“We would give our last breath to compete in the World Cup, and we would give up everything to do so,” he added. 

Meanwhile, Aditya said “the quality of the opponents varies [in the World Cup]. The players are extremely talented, which is important for the advancement of Indonesian soccer because we can learn from them.”

Coordinator of Save Our Soccer, Akmal Maharli, 44, expressed regret that Indonesia may be sanctioned due to the deferral of the U-20 World Cup.

The development and hopes of the national team players would be severely hampered if Indonesia were to be sanctioned and prevented from participating in international events like the Asian Cup.

Redemption: Hugo Samir, a winger for Indonesia and Persis Solo, saw the U-20 World Cup as an opportunity to redeem himself and prove to the world that he is a talented player. (Courtesy of Hugo Samir) (Personal collection/Courtesy of Hugo Samir)

Akmal had previously elaborated on the 2015 sanctions imposed on Indonesia: The ban put an immediate stop to all national team activities in Indonesia, the national team could not compete in international tournaments due to FIFA's suspension, and there was no way for the Garuda team to play in both the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers or the 2019 Asian Cup Qualifiers.

The soccer activist lamented that recent years have brought more bad news and fewer accomplishments to Indonesia's soccer realm. 

"An event like the U-20 World Cup is difficult for Indonesia to qualify for, so the country's participation in it is a source of great pride," Akmal said, adding that it is the same with Qatar, who got to play in the 2022 World Cup because they were the host country. 

"It's the pride," Akmal said.

No matter how devastated he was, Dimas still tries to see a silver lining and not lose hope.

“We shouldn't give up hope just yet. There are still numerous aspirations we have [for Indonesian soccer] that have yet to be realized,” Dimas said. 

And most importantly, Indonesians across the country are still rooting for them, regardless.

“Our fans’ support matters a lot to us,” Aditya said. “All of their support greatly impacts how we play for the better.”