Indonesia - the bitter price of a shortcut to glory

No World Cup, no identity, and a football industry in disrepair after years of living in the illusion of “instant success”.

Dream of buying with passport

Football in Indonesia is a passion of 280 million people, but that passion has been misdirected. Instead of persistently building a foundation like Japan, South Korea or even Vietnam - places that invest in youth training, infrastructure and playing philosophy - the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) has chosen the shortest path: buying a dream.

They spent millions of dollars to naturalize Indonesian players in Europe, mainly from the Netherlands. The contracts were hailed as “historic turning points”, with the belief that with just a little European DNA, the “Garuda” team would take off. The media called it “the golden project”, fans saw it as a shortcut to the World Cup. But it turned out to be a house built on sand.

Naturalizing players is not a crime, if it is part of a long-term strategy. But for Indonesia, it is seen as an “instant miracle” – a way to bypass decades of investment, training, and patience. When dreams are bought with passports, what they lose is not just money, but also the soul of their own football.

Patrick Kluivert has just been fired by the Indonesian Football Federation.

To legitimize the project, PSSI brought in Patrick Kluivert - a name once the pride of Dutch football. But Kluivert was not hired to build, but to prove that the naturalization plan was right.

Ironically, he was given the helm of a “Ferrari without an engine” – a team lacking foundation, identity and time. Despite leading Indonesia to the fourth round of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup – their best performance since 1938 – Kluivert was forced to part ways “by agreement”. Not because of failure, but because he could not create a miracle. The Indonesian team lost to Saudi Arabia and Iraq, saying goodbye to their ticket to the Americas to attend the biggest football festival on the planet.

The problem is: PSSI wants a victory to prove themselves right, not a strategy for long-term development. And when they fail to achieve that, they choose the easiest way - change the teacher to change the fate.

The vicious cycle of impatience

Indonesian football is now stuck in its own trap. Every time it fails, it starts all over again: firing coaches, scrapping old plans, building new ones. No coach has enough time to plant the seeds of a philosophy, no young player is given the chance to mature.

For football to develop, there must be a connection between the national team and youth training, between philosophy and personnel. But in Indonesia, that connection is completely severed by short-term decisions. Naturalized players come and go like the wind, while the local youth can only stand on the sidelines and watch the national team become a showroom for European passports.

Indonesia failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

When Patrick Kluivert left, he took not only his tactical plan, but also his coaching staff, his training plans and the development system he had been building. Each change cost Indonesia a few more years – only to find themselves stuck at the starting line.

Indonesia’s naturalization project is not just a football plan, but also a political gamble. It is painted with slogans, grand ceremonies, promises of “national pride”. But behind it is a short-term achievement mindset - doing everything to get immediate results, regardless of the consequences later.

The failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup is not just a sporting pain, but a slap in the face to illusions. The real price of the “shortcut” is not the money spent, but the lost trust of fans, a generation of young players with no place to stand, and a football that has to be rebuilt from the rubble.

Indonesia’s failure comes not only from the pitch, but from their understanding of football. You can naturalize a player, but you cannot import a spirit, identity or aspiration. Football is a community journey – of today’s barefooted children becoming tomorrow’s stars. And that journey takes time, not shortened by money or passports.

Now, Indonesia is back at square one, looking for a new coach, drawing up a new plan, promising again. Their story should be a warning to the rest of Asia: football is not a place for speculation, but a place of patience, of trust and of lasting values.

You can buy the best ingredients, hire the best chefs, but if every failure means changing the person holding the pan, the only thing you'll end up with is chaos.

Source: https://znews.vn/indonesia-cai-gia-cay-dang-cua-con-duong-tat-den-vinh-quang-post1596717.html