The U-22 Indonesian National Team Arrives in the country after winning the 2023 SEA Games Gold Medal

Liputan6.com, Jakarta The U-22 Indonesian national team officially set foot in the country after fighting in a multi-event tournament throughout Southeast Asia, the 2023 Cambodia SEA Games.

Rizky Ridho and his friends arrived at the Terminal 3 Arrival Lobby of Soekarno Hatta Airport, Tangerang, Banten on Thursday (18/5/2023) around 20.50 WIB.

The arrival of the U-22 Indonesian National Team was warmly welcomed by family and close relatives. PSSI deputy chairman Zainudin Amali and exco were also present at the location. The police officers had also been alerted moments before, to ensure security around the area.

Based on Liputan6.com’s monitoring, a number of supporters joined in to enliven the arrival of the U-22 Indonesian National Team at Terminal 3. Some of them even sang fan chants as a form of victory celebration shortly after the players left the arrival gate.

The moment when Indra Sjafri’s foster children return home is indeed seen as a special event by most Indonesian people.

The reason is, they just won the gold medal after defeating Thailand with a landslide score of 5-2 in the final match at the Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday (16/5/2023).

The success of the U-22 Indonesian national team to emerge as a champion in football sports as well as marking the first gold won by Merah Putih in a multi-event tournament across Southeast Asia since more than three decades ago.

As is known, the Garuda troops last recorded a similar achievement at the 2023 Philippines SEA Games. After that, the best achievement for the U-22 Indonesian National Team was only to win the runner-up title, as happened at the 2019 Philippines SEA Games.

The father of a Garuda Nusantara employee, Budi Nugraha, was even willing to leave Bandung directly from 12 noon WIB to witness the return of his son who had scored a goal for the Indonesian side in the 2023 SEA Games football final.

“Deliberately today from Bandung, at 12 o’clock from Abandung. I stayed in Jakarta first (to) see the champion parade. Until he’s finished here, just go home together. In Bandung we are picked up. There are plans for a Beckham pick-up parade,” he said when met at Soekarno Hatta Airport, Thursday (18/5/2023).

Video news highlights the final match of the 2023 SEA Games men’s football between the U-22 Indonesian national team against the U-22 Thai national team which ended with a score of 5-2, Tuesday (16/5/2023) evening WIB.