Indonesian National Soccer Team Coach Shin Tae-yong Tests Positive for Covid-19

KOMPAS.com – The Indonesian sports world continues its slump less than a week after its vaunted badminton team abruptly exited the All England tournament, after men’s national soccer team coach Shin Tae-yong tested positive for Covid-19.

“I can confirm from a number of sources that [Shin Tae-yong] checked into the High Care Unit [HCU] at Jakarta’s Siloam Hospital. But I do not know about his current condition,” said Gatot S. Dewa Broto, the Secretary to Indonesian Minister of Youth and Sports Zainudin Amali on Wednesday, as quoted by Kompas.com affiliate BolaSport .

“We heard that Shin was in Siloam Hospital’s HCU unit since at least last Monday, at the urging of the South Korean Embassy in Jakarta. We overlooked news of his hospitalization because our attention was diverted by the All England fiasco,” he added.

Also read: FIFA Postpones 2021 U-20 World Cup, U-17 World Cup Until 2023

“The step is standard procedure among embassies here to aid their nationals, just as the Indonesian Embassy in London helped our Badminton team [at the All England Tournament]. It is also natural, as Shin is a well-known figure in South Korea.”

Earlier, Kompas.com received reports that Shin was hospitalized at Siloam Hospital last Saturday, March 20, a day after he tested Covid-19 positive in his PCR test. Interim Indonesian Soccer Association or PSSI Secretary General Yunus Nusi confirmed Shin’s diagnosis at the time.

PSSI hired Shin to coach the ‘Garuda’ or Indonesian national side in December 2019, after the Association fired Scotsman Simon McMenemy the previous month bbecause of the team’s subpar performance in the 2022 World Cup qualifications.

Also read: Former Indonesian National Team Coach Alfred Riedl Passes Away Aged 70

He is the latest of a string of foreign coaches hired by PSSI, the most notable of whom was late Austrian-born coach Alfred Riedl, who skippered Indonesia to two AFF Cup finals in 2010 and 2016.

Prior to coaching Indonesia, Shin coached a South Korea side which beat Germany 2-0 in the first round of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The victory ensured that the then defending world champion failed to get into the knockout stages.

(Writer/Editor: Faishal Raihan)

Source: https://bola.kompas.com/read/2021/03/24/19315918/pelatih-timnas-indonesia-shin-tae-yong-masuk-hcu-karena-covid-19?page=all#page2.