Sandy Walsh is a true superstar. Not in Belgium, however, but in Indonesia, where the KV Mechelen full-back has become international.
Sandy Walsh (29 years old) saw his life change completely when he became an Indonesian international, in 2023. Since then, the popularity of the KV Mechelen full-back has really exploded, to the point of making him by far the Pro League player more followed on social networks.
Walsh actually has 2.7 million followers on Instagram: that’s more, for example, than Axel Witsel (1.3) or even Jérémy Doku (2.2). “It’s even crazier than I could have imagined,” confesses the Malinois in an interview with Sporza.
Sandy Walsh became an Indonesian international through his maternal grandparents. “I made the news there by reaching the quarter-finals of the Europa League with Genk in 2017.” At the time, the Indonesian coach contacted him via Instagram.
Hours of selfies
A meeting quickly follows, but the process of becoming international is complicated: Walsh must take an exam after classes at the Indonesian embassy, and only gets his passport in 2022 in a real traditional ceremony at which he must take the oath and sing the national anthem.
“Football is a religion there, it means everything. The 82,000-seat national stadium is full and I think it would even be for training. People sometimes wait 8 hours at the airport to take a photo with me and my wife,” Walsh laughs.
“If I can still go out on the streets there? No, definitely not. You can’t go out as a footballer, otherwise you’re left for hours of selfies. The police don’t help us because they want to- even their photo (laughs)”.
A madness that Bertrand Crasson, coach in Indonesia, had already told us about earlier this year (read here). The objective now is to qualify for the 2026 World Cup: Sandy Walsh’s Indonesia is currently only one point away from a direct qualifying place.
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