The international youth football tournament, Garuda International Cup 3 2023, is ready to be held.
This marks the third edition of the Garuda International Cup. The first edition was held in Bandung in 2015, and last year, in 2022, it was hosted at the ASIOP Training Ground.
This year, Garuda International Cup 3 will once again take place at ASIOP Training Ground (ATG), Sentul, Bogor Regency, from July 6 to July 9, 2023.
Including Indonesia, seven countries will participate in Garuda International Cup 3 (GIC 3), namely Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Brunei Darussalam.
There are two age categories that will be contested in GIC 3, namely U-12 and U-17. Each age group will have 16 participating teams.
Wahyu Budiharto, Chairman of the GIC 3 Committee, stated that this year’s tournament is especially significant.
According to him, this event also serves as a warm-up for the major event, the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2023, which will be hosted by Indonesia in November.
FIFA has once again selected Indonesia as the host for the World Cup, this time for the U-17 age group.
“We can ensure that this year will be more exciting because it will feature seven countries, compared to three countries in GIC 1 and five countries in GIC 2. So, in terms of competition quantity, it has increased,” said Wahyu Budiharto.
Furthermore, Wahyu Budiharto mentioned that the quality of the tournament has also improved because this time, it is not only teams from Sulawesi or Sumatra participating.
“Instead, domestic participants have broadened, with teams coming from Jakarta, Papua, Batam, and Kalimantan. So, we have representation from almost every corner of Indonesia,” said Wahyu Budiharto.
Meanwhile, Novema Andryani, a member of the Steering Committee for GIC 3, believes that this tournament, sponsored by Transtama Logistics, Sompo Insurance, AQUA, Specs, RS EMC, City Trans Utama, and Joyday, will add to the excitement leading up to the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2023 in Indonesia.
Furthermore, she believes that this tournament can serve as a platform for scouting players for the Indonesian U-17 National Team that will compete in the FIFA U-17 World Cup later.
“So, this is really great. For example, one of the participants from Malaysia, Johor Darul Takzim, is one of the best clubs not only in Malaysia but also in Asia because they have consistently participated in the AFC Cup, and their academy is outstanding,” said Novema Andriyani.
“Now, Indonesian youngsters have the chance to play against JDT. Besides, there is also Shonan Bellmare from Japan, and academies from Thailand participating,” she added.
Elen Bundiyanto, Director of Transtama Logistics, hopes that through GIC 3, the confidence and mentality of young Indonesian footballers can be further honed by competing against foreign teams.
“Because in terms of mentality and attitude, they are no longer inferior because from a young age, they have already learned and tried to compete against foreign teams,” said Elen.
Source: skor.id