Football: King of Penalty Area
Ch. 48 - National Team

Upon returning to the hotel, Adinda immediately sorted out Raynaldi's news, and then published the report, which caused a stir among domestic reporters.

Kurniawan who became the last player to come to Europe to play has returned to Indonesia 7 years ago. After that, PSSI has also tried to send many youngsters to do trials at European clubs but no results have emerged yet. Now suddenly there is a young striker who is 17 years old to be the best player in 4 consecutive games that electrify the whole country.

In addition, Raynaldi still plays in the first team and becomes a core player in the team. Kurniawan who last played for the Italian Serie B team, SS Genoa can only be a rotational player.

Although the fans did not pay much attention to the players in this second German league. But now the media is not the same anymore. Because in their minds the question arises. “How many such players have appeared in Indonesian history with this appearance?”

Currently, many media have targeted Koln Athletics for the next match, Koln Athletics will play against Armina Oldenburg at home. And this game is a highlight in league 2.Bundesliga, considering that Armina Oldenburg who leads the standings suffered 2 defeats from the last 3 games and is now 1 point adrift of second place, Chemnitz and third place 1.Mainz have the same points.

Armina Oldenburg was arguably lucky because in the previous game, 1.Mainz vs Chemnitz ended in a 2-2 draw. Although they lost, but their team still leads the standings 2.Bundesliga with 45 points, followed by Chemnitz and 1.Mainz with 44 points, Dresden 09 with 42 points, Wiesbaden with 39 points, and Koln Athletics in 6th place with 37 points.

Armina Oldenburg has just been relegated from the Bundesliga last season and intends to return to the Bundesliga this season. But in mid-season they lost their captain, Jeffrey Sigoodrson who suffered a torn ligament that made him have to be absent until the end of the season.

The result without the captain, Jeffrey Sigoodrson, the ability of Armina Oldenburg to control the game decreased dramatically which caused them to experience the results of 1 win, 1 draw, and 2 losses in 4 games.

Although Armina Oldenburg's abilities were affected by losing their captain, but this team still had tremendous strength for most 2 teams.Bundesliga and cannot be underestimated.

The Indonesian sports media are very interested in this game. They also have plenty of time to prepare for this match. Round 23 of League 2.The Bundesliga is scheduled for February 16, and will take half a month.

This week the group stage play-offs of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers for the AFC zone will begin. In addition, European countries will prepare to face the 2008 European Cup which will be held in Austria and Switzerland.

The night after the game, Raynaldi meets his agent, Joko Sasongko and a late-20s man wearing a formal suit. “Include, Ray. This is the coach of the Indonesian National Team, Frans Kaihatu.”

Raynaldi actually barely paid attention to the news about his own national team. Because for him now the most important thing is to get stronger both technically and experience playing in Europe. After all, one's abilities would only be appreciated after they achieved something.

So Raynaldi was actually not very excited when he met his national team coach. “So what's up with Sas?” Raynaldi turned to ask Joko Sasongko.

“Let Frans speak for themselves.” Joko Sasongko asked Frans Kaihatu to explain himself.

Raynaldi agreed.

“To be honest, I was surprised by your previous appearance. Although it is still far from the standard of Europe's top players but with your ability now to earn a place in the top five league teams should be fine.” Frans opened the conversation.

“Maybe you will also be the first non-designate player from Indonesia to play in five major European leagues. So the reason I'm here is to see how good you are and the level of your performance in the competition is high. To be honest, with your ability now you have become one of the best attackers in Indonesia, but for your future development I decided I will only call you for important national team matches.” Frans ended his explanation and looked at Raynaldi waiting for an answer.

“Thank you for coming here, Mr. Frans. Actually, I also intend to convey the same to you. I want to defend the national team but with my condition now I hope I will get more leeway not to follow a friendly match that is not too important.”

“Because commuting from Germany to Indonesia will take 20 Hours trip for one way, and also I am still in the maximum growth phase considering the age of physical development of the average Asian will increase rapidly at the age of 14-18 years. And now I am still trying to get the most suitable physical condition to become a professional player with the help of regular training, if too much traveling between continents will also have a little effect on my training.” Raynaldi was quite pleased with Frans' explanation so he boldly expressed his thoughts.

“Yeah, I also agree with your thought that.” Frans nodded in agreement with Raynaldi's words.

“Thanks for the attention, Mr. Frans.” Raynaldi nodded in thanks.

“However, I hope that you can play in the Play-off round of the World Cup qualifying group phase will take place in 3 days. And we will fly directly to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan from frankurt tomorrow.” Frans immediately revealed his true intentions to Raynaldi.

“Oke.” Raynaldi immediately agreed with Frans' invitation, however the play-off of the group phase of the World Cup qualifiers is still a very important match.

Indonesia, which is ranked 115th by FIFA, is also ranked less favourable among AFC members. Of the total 47 countries that are members of the AFC, Indonesia is ranked 34 out of a total of 47 countries that make it through the Play-offs to enter the last 40 of the Asian World Cup qualifying zone.

In total there will be 14 AFC member countries who will have to undergo the Play-offs before being able to join the top 40 for actual World Cup qualification. The 14 countries will be eliminated in half to form the top 40 along with the other 33 AFC member states.

Raynaldi also knew some things about the Indonesian National Team now. After experiencing the era of the golden generation in the 90s, Indonesia experienced a huge shortage of talented players to the point that for almost 20 years it could only rely on almost the same players.

The emergence of Aji Pamungkas, Firman Huda, Arnova Eka Yulio, and Kurnia Cahya in the previous year made the rejuvenation of the national team group to be younger. But still, most of the players who appear in the Indonesian National Team are still old players in the 90s. Even the captain, Kurniawan still have to play to maintain the morale of the Indonesian National Team players.

Now, Frans is trying to introduce some young players to accelerate the rejuvenation of the Indonesian National Team. The emergence of Rangga Saktiaga at the 2007 Asian Cup was also his advice while still an Assistant Coach of the Indonesian National Team.