Pascal Struijk Emphasizes His Main Focus is on the Dutch National Team and Leeds United, Not the Indonesian National Team

FAJAR.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Pascal Struijk, Leeds United defender who is of Indonesian descent from his mother, emphasized that his main focus at the moment is defending the Dutch national team and his club in the Premier League, not joining the Indonesian national team even though he has received great attention from Garuda fans.

Struijk admitted that he was happy and enthusiastic about the extraordinary attention from Indonesian fans who often left comments on his social media accounts. He sees this enthusiasm as proof of the great love Indonesian people have for football.

“I’m happy to see how the fans are there and how much they want me to go there,” he said in an interview with ESPN Netherlands. “It shows that Indonesia is a very big football country. All the fans who commented under my Instagram post were quite funny,” he explained.

Even so, Struijk emphasized that the Indonesian national team was not yet his priority. This 26 year old player admits that he is still patiently waiting for a call from the Dutch national team coach, Ronald Koeman, and is determined to end this season with a strong performance with Leeds United in order to stay in the Premier League.

“That’s not something I’m focused on. I want to end this season strongly with Leeds United. We want to stay in the Premier League and finish as high as possible,” he explained. “Let’s hope that will happen someday,” added Struijk.

“Playing for the Dutch national team is still always a dream for me. It depends on how I perform on the pitch. You have to make sure the coach can’t ignore you. So far I’ve played well, so I hope to continue like this,” he stressed.