The Indonesian team just drew 2-2 with Bahrain in the match that took place on the evening of October 10. Coach Shin Tae-yong's students played very well despite being away, leading 2-1 for most of the second half. Unfortunately, in the last seconds of extra time, goalkeeper Maarten Paes had to go into the net to pick up the ball after Mohamed Marhoon's tap-in. This is the third consecutive draw for the Indonesian team in the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup. The Southeast Asian representative is currently ranked 5th in Group C with 3 points, 1 point behind the 3 teams above, Bahrain, Australia, and Saudi Arabia. The Japanese team is the leading team in this group with 3 wins, 9 points.
Coach Shin Tae-yong expressed his disappointment that his team only got 1 point: “Both teams played their best until the referee blew the final whistle. However, I still have to mention some shameful things, in this case the referee's decisions. If the AFC wants to develop, decisions like this match must change. Anyone who watched this match will understand why our players were angry. The referee's decisions were all wrong.”
Coach Shin Tae-yong criticized the referee for causing the Indonesian team to lose points.
After a painful draw with Bahrain, the Indonesian team will visit the Qingdao Youth Football Stadium of the Chinese team. This is also the last match in the FIFA Days series in October for the Indonesian team. The Chinese team is currently at the bottom of Group C, having lost all three matches, so coach Shin Tae-yong is confident in setting a target of 3 points to improve his position. Before leaving Bahrain, striker Marselino Ferdinan expressed his determination: "Indonesia will leave China with 3 points in hand, I am sure of that."
The match between Indonesia and China will take place at 7 p.m. on October 15. According to calculations by Bola Times , coach Shin Tae-yong and his team will be physically affected as the distance from Riffa City (Bahrain) - where the Indonesian team just finished their first match - to Qingdao (China) is 6,599 km. This distance is quite far, especially because Qingdao is not the capital, so the Indonesian team has to transfer flights many times.
However, to solve this problem, the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) decided to use a private jet to take coach Shin Tae-yong and his team directly to Qingdao. The Indonesian team will have plenty of time to travel and will not have to go through any transit.
PSSI President Erick Thohir encouraged the Indonesian team: “I ask everyone in the Indonesian national team, including players, coaching staff, and officials, to focus on the next match against China. Let’s prove that we deserve more than 1 point even though we have to play away from home. I also hope that fans will continue and never stop supporting the Indonesian national team players.”
Indonesian team will have direct flight to China
The Chinese team had to travel a longer distance than the visiting Indonesian team.
Notably, PSSI has just made the distance that the Indonesian team traveled to Qingdao shorter than the distance that the host China had to travel. Before returning home, the Chinese team had a match against Australia in Adelaide (10.10, the Chinese team lost 1-3). The distance from Adelaide to Qingdao is 8,112 km, which is 1,500 km further than the distance that the Indonesian team traveled.
According to Xinhua News Agency, the reason the Chinese team had to go through such a long journey was because the players had poor results, causing coach Branko Ivankovic's team to have many standards cut.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hoa-dau-bahrain-pssi-choi-lon-thue-chuyen-co-rieng-dua-indonesia-dau-doi-tuyen-trung-quoc-185241011162712381.htm
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