Shocking: Unemployed naturalized Indonesian player has to sell clothes, fans are worried

According to CNN Indonesia, the situation has become alarming for the country's six naturalized players, as they have yet to find new clubs to join. Even player Nathan Tjoe-A-On has had to sell clothes and work as a fashion model.

Worrying developments for the Indonesian team

President of the Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI), Mr. Erick Thohir recently affirmed: "The Indonesian team must have the best possible preparation in all aspects, to seize the historic opportunity in the fourth qualifying round of the Asian region to win a ticket to the 2026 World Cup".

Worrying developments for the Indonesian national team, as 6 key naturalized players are unemployed

Photo: Reuters

However, the current situation is very worrying for the archipelago team when 6 important pillars are naturalized players who are unemployed, they have just been fired by their home clubs and have not yet found a place to play.

Nathan Tjoe-A-On, 23, was under contract with Swansea City until June 2026, but was released early by the Welsh club and left as a free agent. He, along with centre-back Justin Hubner, striker Rafael Struick, midfielder Thom Haye, defenders Shayne Pattynama and Jordi Amat, have all had their contracts terminated early or not renewed by clubs across Europe.

"There is still a lot of time left in the transfer window, but these naturalized players have not received any offers from interested clubs so far. It is very likely that they will be unemployed for a long time. This will have a huge impact on the Indonesian team, when the preparation process for the fourth qualifying round is expected to take place from September," CNN Indonesia said.

Meanwhile, instead of actively looking for a new club to join, player Nathan Tjoe-A-On has turned to fashion , introducing and selling his own brand of clothing and even modeling. Although Nathan Tjoe-A-On's new activities still attract Indonesians, for football fans in the archipelago, they are not happy about the precarious situation of this important player, CNN Indonesia emphasized.

Justin Hubner (red shirt) and Nathan Tjoe-A-On are two of the six key naturalized players of the Indonesian national team who have been unemployed for less than a month.

Photo: Reuters

Nathan Tjoe-A-On has played 7 times for the U.23 team and 12 times for the national team. He is a key factor for the archipelago team in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, with 11 matches and 3 assists.

Meanwhile, players in the same situation as the Dutch midfielder above include Justin Hubner, Thom Haye, Rafael Struick, Shayne Pattynama and Jordi Amat. "All of them so far have no club interested in joining them," CNN Indonesia expressed on June 21.

The fourth round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, with 6 participating teams including Indonesia along with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq and Oman, will be drawn into 2 groups on July 17. After that, the teams will compete from October 8 to 14 in 2 groups in the two designated host countries, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

The top teams in each group will win the remaining two official tickets to the 2026 World Cup. The two second-placed teams in each group will play a play-off match (2 home and away matches), with the winning team entering the intercontinental play-off round to compete for two wildcard tickets.

Time is running out, as the Indonesian team plans to gather in September to begin preparations for the fourth qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia, including playing two international friendly matches (opponents yet to be determined).

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/soc-cau-thu-nhap-tich-indonesia-that-nghiep-phai-di-ban-quan-ao-cdv-lo-sot-vo-185250621104410755.htm