Indonesia suffers double losses in 'death match' with China in 2026 World Cup qualifiers

The first case is Kevin Diks. This expensive defender was injured while playing for Copenhagen FC and will be out until the end of the season. Losing the second most expensive player in the squad (4.5 million euros, only 9 million euros less than Mees Hilgers), Indonesia will lose a quality option to use in defense.

The second case is Dean James. This striker suffered a hamstring injury while playing for Go Ahead Eagles in the Dutch National Championship. According to the doctors, he is unlikely to return for the match against China.

Having lost James, Indonesia are in trouble as they are also without Maselino Ferdinan. The 21-year-old midfielder has received three yellow cards and according to AFC regulations, he must serve a one-match suspension.

The problem is that James and Ferdinan are Indonesia's two main scorers. In the last 4 matches in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Indonesia scored 4 goals, all of which belonged to Ferdinan and James (2 goals each).

Indonesia suffers double losses in 'death match' with China in 2026 World Cup qualifiers photo 2

Coach Kluivert will be very worried about his team's personnel.

Without their two best strikers, Indonesia is even more worried about the match against China, not to mention they are also missing their irreplaceable number 1 goalkeeper: Maarten Paes (received 3 yellow cards).

With 4 holes, Coach Kluivert will have a headache as these are the 4 factors he often used in the first 2 matches. Indonesian media is very worried about the situation. Meanwhile, the president of the country's football federation is calm. He believes that Indonesia's resources are very large and they have enough replacements.

"I don't know. The risk of injury is definitely there for all players. I have been saying for a long time why we need to strengthen the squad," said Erick Thohir. "Our talent pool must be very rich. Because the risk of injury can happen. Not to mention when the number of matches increases, for example when the national team and the U23 team play in the same month. Because many players in the team are still eligible to play for the U23 team."

Dang Lai

Source: https://tienphong.vn/indonesia-thiet-don-thiet-kep-truoc-man-tu-chien-voi-tuyen-trung-quoc-o-vong-loai-world-cup-2026-post1740183.tpo