REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia goalkeeper Maarten Paes says being able to deliver Garuda's team to the 2026 World Cup is like a dream for him. Like all footballers, Maarten, who now plays for FC Dallas, has big dreams of playing on the World Cup stage.

It is this dream he is seeking to realise after delivering Indonesia two crucial points in the opening two matches of the third round of the Asian zone's 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Saudi Arabia and Australia.

“I think it's a beautiful dream. We have to have a big goal, to achieve the stars,” the 26-year-old goalkeeper said in an interview with FIFA, quoted on Tuesday (8/10/2024).

“For me, the 2026 World Cup in the US will be even more special, after staying here and seeing how the league and the popularity of the league are. Football is growing in this country,” he said.

With Shin Tae-yong's current select squad heavily populated by young players, Maarten is confident the potential of playing in the World Cup is highly likely. Moreover, in this year's edition Asia got an additional quota of representatives in the World Cup from the original 4.5 representatives to 8.5.

“I think it's something that the fans here deserve, to enjoy the World Cup. I think if you look at our team, how young this team is, there's so much potential to develop in the future,” he said.

Furthermore, Maarten then told about his experience playing in front of about 70 thousand spectators at Gelora Bung Karno Utama Stadium (GBK), Jakarta during the match against Australia.

Back then, a series of impressive saves from him that helped preserve Garuda's unbeaten start to the third round, there was a share of the energy the supporters provided during the 90 minutes.

“It was incredible, especially at the second game in Jakarta, which was attended by 80,000 fans. They give so much energy that it is not difficult to give everything,” he said.

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