"I watch the matches of the Indonesian team. Every time I see 2-3 new players, all from the Netherlands or England. No one is from Indonesia," coach Dragan Talajic commented on the strategy of using European players - mainly those born in the Netherlands (with or without Southeast Asian roots) of the Indonesian team. The team of thousands of islands is the opponent that Mr. Talajic and the Bahrain team face today (March 26).
The Croatian coach added: "Your country has millions of people but most of the players come from the Netherlands. However, there is nothing wrong with this, we respect the Indonesian team and will win ."
Bahrain coach Dragan Talajic
Indonesia is Bahrain's direct competitor in Group C of the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia. Both teams have 6 points and an equal goal difference. In the first leg, Bahrain drew 2-2 with Indonesia.
The West Asian team’s equalizer caused controversy as it happened in the 9th minute of added time, while the referee announced only 6 minutes of added time. Indonesian fans and media strongly criticized the referee for not ending the match on time. Coach Talajic and the Bahrain players were also affected when extremist fans attacked them on social media.
"I don't want to comment on the previous match. It's over. We've forgotten it and are just focusing on the current match. I respect the Indonesian team. The Bahrain team came here with great confidence.
I know what people say on social media, but Indonesians are not like that. They are very nice people. When we arrived, we were warmly welcomed. Indonesians treated us very well. I also know that Indonesia is a very large population and the behavior of a few people does not represent the whole.
The previous match ended in a 2-2 draw. I expect a tense match tomorrow. As I said, the Bahrain team is very confident and will win," said Mr. Talajic.
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/hlv-bahrain-tuyen-indonesia-toan-cau-thu-ha-lan-ar933615.html
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