Elkan Baggott: Indonesia defender talks Instagram, Ipswich Town and Asian Cup
- Published
Elkan Baggott has played seven games for Ipswich and also had loan spells at King's Lynn, Gillingham and Cheltenham
Ipswich Town defender Elkan Baggott has found himself in the international spotlight as part of Indonesia's squad at the Asian Cup in Qatar.
But being the focus of attention is nothing new for the 21-year-old.
Baggott, who has played seven times for the Championship club, already has 1.6 million Instagram followers - but it is something he tries to "leave alone".
"On days of games or the day after games, I won't touch Instagram," he told the BBC.
"Just because there's a lot of comments from people about how they think you've played and sometimes that can interfere with how you think that you played, so I've learned just to leave that alone.
"I have my notifications turned off on Instagram. It's more an app that I use just when I look at some posts that my friends have sent me. I try to keep it as normal as possible."
Baggott is, however, ready to take any criticism on the chin, adding: "Your job, as a professional footballer, is to perform for the team. So when you're not performing, you're going to hear it. But it's the same with Ipswich in England and all the loan clubs I've been to."
Indonesia lost 3-1 to Iraq in their opening group fixture on Monday, with Baggott winning his 21st cap but picking up an early yellow card.
Speaking ahead of the match, Baggott, who has made four League Cup appearances for Ipswich earlier this season, said: "The majority of the world probably don't know that Indonesia is as passionate about football as it is. Even for an under-23 game I played in, we still had over 20,000 people there.
"The passion for the game and love for the national team is ridiculous, it is so good."
Family pride
Elkan Baggott wins an aerial challenge in a qualifying game against Brunei
Indonesia will also face 2019 losing finalists Japan and Vietnam in the group stage after coming through qualifying to reach the main tournament.
"It's an amazing tournament, especially for our country, we've not been here in a long time," he said.
"It's an honour for myself to be here for my first big major tournament and we're looking to hopefully do the best we can."
The defender, who is contracted to Ipswich until the summer of 2025., has an Indonesian mother and English father.
There was great pride among relatives living in Indonesia when he made his senior international debut against Afghanistan in 2021, although it was cut short when he suffered a head injury in the second half.
"My cousins texted me congratulations," he said. "It's quite weird because sometimes I play a game in a different part of the world, and they'll say 'we've just been at a sports bar and seen you guys on the telly'.
"I'm really close with the Indonesian side of my family and it's an honour to make them proud and to play for the country.
"I speak a little bit of Indonesian. I understand a few phrases and words, and can speak a bit also. But it's something I'm still looking to learn and improve on and one day, hopefully, I can speak fluently."
For now, though, his focus is on the Asian Cup, which runs until 10 February, and performing well in Qatar could boost Baggott's chances of playing a part for Ipswich in the final months of the season.
He texted Town team-mate Cameron Burgess to wish him well ahead of Australia's 2-0 win over India on Saturday.
"We've been in contact here and there throughout our time here," said Baggott.
And his international exploits are a topic for occasional discussion at Portman Road.
He added: "There's an interest in what I do, seeing different parts of the world. They have a lot of questions about 'what's this country like?', 'what's the style of football?', 'what's the quality like?' because it's a bit different to the Championship."