Indonesia could set a record for the number of naturalized players when it meets Vietnam

Indonesia may call up at least eight naturalized players for two matches against Vietnam in the second round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers - Asian region in March.

Coach Shin Tae-yong (right) met with center back Jay Idzes in Italy on March 3. Photo: Instagram/Shintaeyong7777

The latest name to be personally confirmed by coach Shin Tae-yong is center-back Jay Idzes, who plays for Venezia Club in Italy's Second Division - Serie B. The 1.9 m tall center-back was born in 2000 in the Netherlands and has Indonesian grandparents. Idzes' naturalization process was only completed at the end of December 2023.

Coach Shin personally went to Italy to watch Idzes play in the match Venezia lost 1-2 to Como on March 3. The Korean coach also went to watch many other Indonesian players play in Europe such as Sandy Walsh, Shayne Pattynama, Marselino Ferdinan (Belgium), Ivar Jenner, Rafael Struick (Netherlands), Elkan Baggott, Justin Hubner (England).

Previously, Indonesia had seven naturalized players participating in the 2023 Asian Cup, including defenders Jordi Amat, Sandy Walsh, Shayne Pattynama, Justin Hubner, midfielders Marc Klok, Ivar Jenner and striker Rafael Struick. This is also a record for the number of naturalized players of this team in a tournament.

Other "Indonesian-born" players with the potential to be called up are midfielder Thom Haye, defender Nathan Tjoe-A-On (SC Heerenveen, Netherlands), striker Ragnar Oratmangoen (Fortuna Sittard, Netherlands) and goalkeeper Maarten Paes (FC Dallas, USA).

If the players are not hampered by injuries, Indonesia will be strengthened by at least eight naturalized players when they play against Vietnam.

Center-back Jay Idzes trains at Serie B club Venezia and has played 16 matches in the 2023-2024 season. Photo: Venezia FC

The Indonesian national team's plan to naturalize players has been developing since 2010. At the 2014 AFF Cup, they had four naturalized players participating in an official tournament for the first time, including Victor Ignonefo, Raphael Maitimo, Cristian Gonzales and Serginho van Dijk. However, the archipelago nation was eliminated in the group stage. By 2020, with the arrival of coach Shin, naturalizing players of Indonesian origin became an important option to quickly improve the strength of the national team.

Indonesia is currently at the bottom of Group F of the second round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers with one point, five points behind Iraq and two points behind Vietnam, respectively. Therefore, the upcoming two matches against Vietnam are very important for coach Shin and his team. Indonesia aims to win at home at Gelora Bung Karno on March 21 and get points at away at My Dinh on March 26, to create an advantage in the race for a ticket to the third round of the qualifiers.

For the home match, the Indonesian Football Federation hopes to fill the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium with 77,193 seats. The highest ticket price is 750,000 IDR, equivalent to 1.2 million VND. The remaining three prices are 400,000, 200,000 and 100,000 IDR, respectively.

Hieu Luong

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