UNAIR NEWS – Behind the success of the Indonesian national football team in the SEA Games 2023, the role of a psychologist cannot be overlooked. Thus, the Indonesian Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs (Kemenpora) and the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) appointed Universitas Airlangga lecturer Afif Kurniawan MPsi, one of the athletes’ psychology teams.
This is the third time the Indonesian U-22 national football team has won gold in the Southeast Asian Games. Afif and his psychologist fellows, Steven Halim and Laksmiari Saraswati ensure the athletes’ psychological condition throughout the pre-training, training, pre-match, match, and post-match stages.
From 2017 to 2020, Afif also had a stint as a coach in the athlete psychology development department at Persebaya for three consecutive seasons. He has been involved in various sport psychology and athletes’ psychological supervision, two of them including the national women’s baseball and softball team for the ASEAN Games 2018. He often serves as an observer in analyzing the psychological needs of the sports teams. Unsurprisingly, he was once again selected as an extra official, specifically as a psychological support team member for the National Football Team in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The preparations have made two months before the event until the end of the SEA Games. Afif mentioned three phases: 1) the profiling phase, 2) the group stage, and 3) the final and semifinal stages.
Profiling phase
In this phase, the psychology team was challenged to quickly and accurately profile more than fifty players who were involved in the selection process. It includes learning the background, family background, etc. Without that preliminary data, it would be impossible for the psychologist to develop an understanding of the player’s personality dynamics.
Group stage
In the group stage, much negative feedback is tried to discourage the Indonesian national team. Many people said that the Indonesian national team is lucky to be in an easy group and is guaranteed to attend the semifinals. It is impossible to beat Thailand or Vietnam from Group B.
Indonesia was in the same group with the host Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Myanmar, and the Philippines. They believed that winning matches should be easy.
“In a way, this actually diminishes the players’ mental condition, especially their mindset. When players adopt the idea, they tend to underestimate the opponents as easy teams. It goes against the mindset cultivated in the national team that every team is equally strong in the competition,” explained Afif.
The psychology team encouraged the players to control their mindset that winning is not about beating their opponents. Besides, psychologists also limit the athlete’s social media use and make cognitive approaches to shape their mindset.
Semifinal and Final Stage
During the third stage, Afif emphasized the importance of maintaining calmness and good emotional management. Every athlete wants a gold medal. However, psychological studies observed that poor management of passion and motivation can negatively impact someone’s performance.
“Being overly enthusiastic can increase excessive anxiety and actually lead to underperformance. That’s why we adopt individual and group approaches and training periodization to ensure a balanced mindset and optimal performance. It will encourage athletes to display composure, alertness, and an ideal mentality and attitude during competitions,” he said.
As a result, the athletes are able to arrange a game plan and use every opportunity, including injury time (the additional time allowed by the referee to compensate for the time lost during the match). It is such a difficult situation where a great deal of composure is required to face the pressure of the game.
“Approaching the final, we had a casual talk with the athletes. They said that if Indonesia can overtake Vietnam well, why can’t they do Thailand the same? That’s where we learn that this team has had an ideal mentality for the final. It was evidenced by their composure when facing challenging situations. The players equalized the score to 2-2 in the final minutes of normal time. Eventually, Irfan Jauhari scored a goal in extra time, followed by Fajar Fathurrahman and Beckham Putra to seal the game,” Afif explained.
Manifestations of mental health in practice
He believed that SEA Games are a manifestation of mental health that influences the athletes’ performances in the field. For the record, Indonesia beat Vietnam 3-2 in the semifinal. For the final, Indonesia thumped Thailand 5-2.
Afif believed that the whole process of the athletes in those games depicted how they manifested the best version of themselves in terms of emotional stability and resilience. The games reflect the impact of athletes’ psychological well-being on the field.
“The athletes demonstrated good control of multiple aspects under pressure. Even when their teammates were sent off with a red card in the semifinal. They remained composed and focused on their goal,” said the UNAIR psychology lecturer.
Author: Viradyah Lulut Santosa
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
