With a full naturalized squad, the Indonesian team has high ambitions in the World Cup qualifiers.

In their first World Cup qualifying round three, Indonesia caused a big surprise when they held two strong opponents, Saudi Arabia and Australia, to a draw. Coach Shin Tae-young and his team currently have 2 points after 2 matches, ranking 4th in Group C with an unbeaten record.

In the October FIFA Days, Indonesia will face Bahrain and China, weaker teams than the two opponents Indonesia drew with. However, Mr. Erick Thohir - President of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) wants the players to play as underdogs, because they no longer have home field advantage.

"Don't think Indonesia is on par with the next two opponents. We are still the underdogs. The team's goal is to score points against Bahrain and China," the PSSI homepage posted Mr. Thohir's statement.

Indonesia aims to score points against Bahrain and China.

Three years ago, teams needed at least 12 points after 10 matches to qualify for the fourth round of the 2022 World Cup. Indonesian football has higher ambitions. They aim for 15 points after 10 matches in Group C, to almost certainly qualify for the fourth round, or, if luckier, go straight to the World Cup finals.

Bahrain and China are two direct competitors with Indonesia for the 3rd and 4th positions in Group C. Therefore, coach Shin Tae-young and his students need to achieve positive results against the above two opponents. They even have to beat China, using that as motivation to enter the match with Japan (November).

Indonesia made two quality additions just before the October training camp. They successfully naturalized two players of Dutch origin, Mees Hilgers (Twente) and winger Eliano Reijnders (PEC Zwolle). Center-back Hilgers even retained his Dutch nationality when he played Man Utd in the Europa League in September.

Chinese fans protested against Mees Hilgers and Eliano Reijnders playing. They said that Indonesia naturalized the players too quickly and that the two players had not yet taken the oath in the archipelago. Responding to this issue, the Indonesian Ministry of Youth and Sports said: "Their accusations are just psychological attacks. We have not seen any official statement from China. FIFA has also agreed to let our two new players play."

Indonesia has faced China 13 times since 1980. They won 2 matches, drew 2 matches and lost 9 matches. The last time Indonesia beat China was at the King's Cup 1987, a tournament that took place 37 years ago.

However, Indonesia is in much better form than China. The country of one billion people lost both of its opening matches against Japan (0-7) and Saudi Arabia (1-2).

Indonesia has not beaten China since 1987.

Bahrain is expected to be a tougher opponent than China. Indonesia only beat Bahrain once in the 2007 Asian Cup group stage and lost all three remaining matches.

In the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, Indonesia even lost 0-10 to Bahrain. Head of the Indonesian team - Mr. Sumardji said the team is now in a different position: "It's okay if the opponent underestimates us. Indonesia is ready to prove that the team is not as weak as before."

Indonesia is currently ranked 4th in Group C. They are 1 point behind Bahrain and 2 points ahead of China. If they win both Bahrain and China, Indonesia will become the first team to win 2 matches in the 3rd round of World Cup qualifiers.

Thanh Loc

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/du-doi-hinh-nhap-tich-tuyen-indonesia-tham-vong-cao-o-vong-loai-world-cup-ar901027.html