Maarten Paes: A Year to Remember in 2024
Maarten Paes can take great pride in his career achievements in 2024. The Indonesian national team goalkeeper has officially been awarded the Save of the Year for MLS 2024 due to his remarkable performance while playing for FC Dallas.
On May 30, 2024, FC Dallas faced LA Galaxy away from home. In the 31st minute, with the score tied at 1-1, LA Galaxy was awarded a penalty kick, which was taken by Gabriel Pec. Paes brilliantly saved Pec’s penalty shot. As the rebound came back, Pec attempted to score again, but Paes made another stunning leap to block the second shot.
Although the ball was subsequently tapped in by another Galaxy player and initially counted as a goal, it was later disallowed due to an offside position by the penalty taker.
Unfortunately, FC Dallas lost the match with a score of 1-3.
A Stellar Season in MLS
The 2024 MLS season has been Paes’s best yet with FC Dallas. He recorded 118 saves, the highest number of saves in a single season since joining the club, and achieved five clean sheets. Additionally, Paes had a remarkable run with six consecutive matches where he made five or more saves between May 15 and June 18, 2024. He also set a personal best with nine saves against LAFC on June 1.
Regrettably, these impressive performances were not enough to lead FC Dallas into the playoff phase, as the team finished 11th in the Western Conference and 19th overall.
Despite the team’s struggles, Paes was selected for the MLS All-Star team and participated in the match against the Liga MX All-Stars on July 25, 2024.
National Team Aspirations
Paes officially became an Indonesian citizen on April 30, 2024. However, the FC Dallas goalkeeper has yet to represent the Indonesian national team due to FIFA regulations regarding federation transfers. Paes previously played for the Netherlands U-21 team several years ago.
After undergoing an arbitration process at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), Paes made his debut for the Indonesian national team in a match against Saudi Arabia in September.
As of now, Paes has earned four caps for Indonesia and is expected to remain a key player as the Garuda Squad prepares to face Japan and Saudi Arabia in November.
