Continuing Shin Tae-yong's Legacy, Nova Arianto Leads "Young Garuda" to the World Stage

Pragmatic and efficient. These two words aptly narrate the performance of Indonesia's U-17 team in the 2025 U-17 Asian Cup stage. A playing style that evokes nostalgic memories of when the Indonesian national team was coached by Shin Tae-yong.

Nova Arianto's "Garuda Muda" presented a to the point performance to pursue the main target of qualifying for the 2025 U-17 World Cup in Qatar, this November. Indonesia showed a performance to win with a pragmatic style.

Nova understands that the challenges at the Asian level are not easy. This has led to Zahaby Gholy and his teammates transforming their gameplay compared to when they competed in the 2024 AFF U-16 Cup.

In the inaugural tournament, Indonesia played offensively but failed to meet expectations of winning the championship title. They only secured a bronze medal at Manahan Stadium, Surakarta, Central Java.

The playing style that prioritizes results above all else began to be introduced by Nova when Garuda Muda competed in the qualification round of the 2025 AFC U-17 Asian Cup in October 2024. As a result, Indonesia managed to defeat the host Kuwait and hold Australia to a draw. The collection of four points secured a ticket to Saudi Arabia 2025 as one of the best second-placed teams.

The pragmatic gameplay prioritizing solid and disciplined defense has been perfected over five months of training. Bandung (West Java), Yogyakarta (Special Region of Yogyakarta), Dubai (United Arab Emirates), and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) were the locations where Nova and his coaching staff prepared the Young Garuda before competing in the 2025 AFC U-17 Asian Cup after securing qualification for the main stage.

The lengthy and undoubtedly exhausting preparations for all players yielded optimal results in the actual event. Indonesia defeated the championship contender, South Korea, with a score of 1-0, and then crushed Yemen 4-1.

The two results were certainly beyond the predictions of anyone following Asian football. This is because Garuda Muda is the only team in Group C of the 2025 AFC U-17 Asian Cup that did not earn the title of group champion during the qualification round.

Indonesia is even placed in the fourth or final pot during the drawing process. However, Indonesia could become the third Asian team to secure qualification for the 2025 U-17 World Cup after Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan from Group A.

With that condition, it is no wonder that Nova applies a game that tends to be cautious and prioritizes the game approach from the strength of the back line. In the two Group C matches, Indonesia only recorded 32 percent and 44 percent possession of the ball, respectively.

The average ball possession that is inferior to the opponent seems to be Indonesia's magic recipe to reap good results on the Asian stage. Nova's "teacher", namely the Indonesian national team coach for the 2020-2024 period Shin Tae-yong has patented that style of play.

Nova, who accompanied Shin from the sidelines from the 2020 AFF Cup, 2023 Asian Cup, 2024 U-23 Asian Cup, to the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, already understands the best football approach for Indonesia. The three center-backs who transformed into five defenders under the direction of the Indonesian U-17 team are similar to Shin's style.

In a number of official tournaments in Shin's era, Indonesia has also never recorded an average ball possession of more than 45 percent. Even so, Shin was able to make a new history for Indonesian football by breaking through the knockout phase of the 2023 Asian Cup, then advancing to the playoff round of the 2024 Olympics.

Nova believes that his players deserve great appreciation. Their struggle from the preparation period to hard work in the match is the key for Indonesia to win a ticket to the 2025 U-17 World Cup. Also, qualifying for the quarter-finals of the 2025 U-17 Asian Cup.

"I am grateful for the hard work of the players in the first and second games. They applied extraordinary mental, physical and tactical understanding. Hopefully we can continue to improve," said Nova.

Not to be missed, Nova also thanked PSSI for their full support during the preparation period for his squad. Trial matches and training camps abroad colored the U-17 team's training camp. In addition to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Evandra Florasta and colleagues also underwent training and match practice in Spain (September 2024) and Qatar (October 2024).

In addition to a solid defense that has not conceded through open play since the U-17 Asian Cup qualifying round, the performance of the Garuda Muda attack line is also very efficient.

They beat South Korea with two of their best chances late in the game. Then, the first two goals against Yemen came from the first two shots on target in the second game.

When facing South Korea, Indonesia's collection of five total shots was very disparate from the "Taegeuk Troops" who created 21 shots. However, in the match against Yemen, Indonesia's attack line performed better in creating opportunities because they both produced 14 shots with the Middle Eastern team.

Similar to the Indonesian national team under Shin's control. After holding off the opponent's attack, Indonesia will maximize the fast-break strategy, aka a quick counterattack, to punish the opponent's defense.

"The team can play very well to follow the head coach's instructions. After winning against South Korea and Yemen, we are also determined to beat Afghanistan," said Gholy, a winger from Persija Jakarta, who scored a goal and an assist in the game against Yemen.

Despite still having one match left in Group C, Indonesia has been confirmed as the only unseeded team—referring to the draw pot—that will occupy the first place in the preliminary round. Indonesia has never sat at the top of the group stage of an official Asian Football Confederation (AFC) tournament since the turn of the millennium.

The last time and the first record of an Indonesian team topping the early stages of an AFC tournament was created in the 1970 U-20 Asian Cup. At that time, the Indonesian youth team coached by Djamiat Dalhar was even able to reach the final.

Not only becoming group champions, Nova's team also has the opportunity to make new history in the U-17 Asian Cup. In the 1990 edition, Indonesia was indeed able to qualify for the semifinals. However, the tournament at that time was only followed by eight teams, so they immediately advanced to the last four after qualifying from the preliminary round.

Indonesia's chances of making it to at least the semifinals are wide open. Garuda Muda will meet the runner-up of Group D, which is occupied by Iran, Tajikistan, North Korea, and Oman. The Tajikistan vs North Korea duel, Tuesday (8/4/2025) evening WIB, will describe Indonesia's potential opponents in the last eight.

Nova and his team are on the verge of creating a new history for Indonesian football. The achievement also needs to mention Shin's influence on Nova, the son of one of the influential national coaches, Sartono Anwar.

It is undeniable that Shin's inspiration has perfected Nova's coaching touch, who has also experienced the influence of a number of great local and international coaches during his career as a player. Nova has been coached by tacticians such as Benny Dollo, Rahmad Darmawan, Jacksen F Tiago, and Ivan Kolev.

Amidst the appreciation for Nova and the Garuda Muda squad, we need to take our hats off again to Shin who has given Nova the opportunity to accompany him for four years. Although Shin will no longer handle the Garuda team as of January 2025, his legacy is carried by Nova. GamsahamnidaShin coach!