Naturalized Goalkeeper Maarten Paes Talks About Indonesia’s Chances for the World Cup: This Country Has Potential

DALLAS – Goalkeeper of Dallas FC, Maarten Paes has noble dreams with the Indonesian National Team (Timnas). The newly naturalized player stated that he wanted to bring the Garuda squad into the world football arena.

As is known, Maarten Paes just got a passport as an Indonesian citizen (WNI) after taking the oath on April 30 2024. Maarten was officially able to defend the Garuda Squad.

Having a new citizenship, Maarten felt very happy and immediately set noble goals with the Indonesian National Team. The 25 year old player admitted that he really wanted to make Indonesia’s name known on the world football stage.

“Yes, what I want to achieve is to put Indonesia on the football map. “I think Indonesia is a very big country, and the number one sport they like is football,” said Maarten, quoted from the FC Dallas YouTube channel, Monday (6/5/2024).

“If you see the great support, if you see the potential there, I think this is about fulfilling that potential and bringing a big tournament to this country,” he continued.

Maarten believes the Indonesian national team has great potential to appear in a tournament like the World Cup. The player, who has Indonesian ancestry from his grandmother, said that bringing the Garuda Squad to the World Cup was his closest target.

“And the only thing on my mind is what if we could bring the World Cup, for example, that would be amazing,” said Maarten.

Just for your information, the Indonesian National Team is currently still fighting in the second round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifications in the Asia Zone. With two matches remaining in Group F, Shin Tae-yong’s troops still have a big chance of qualifying for the next round.

(sto)