In a 1-0 victory over China on the evening of June 5, the Indonesian team, thanks to Ole Romeny's only goal from the penalty spot, beat China 1-0 and became the only representative of Southeast Asia still having a chance to attend the 2026 World Cup, competing for a place in the 4th qualifying round.
In this match, coach Patrick Kluivert's team had 4 "domestic players" in the starting lineup including Rizky Ridho, Yakob Sayuri, Egy Maulana Vikri and Ricky Kambuaya. In the second half, the Dutch strategist added Beckham Putra and Ramadhan Sananta to the field. Stefano Lilipaly - a naturalized player but currently playing domestically - is also considered a "domestic player".
According to CNN Indonesia and Bola, this is a fairly high number of domestic players for the national team. Under coach Shin Tae-yong, the Indonesian team often uses only 2-3 native players, instead of naturalized Indonesian players from abroad.
On the other hand, Indonesia's victory and ticket to the 2026 World Cup qualifiers round 4 have received much praise from the regional media. Thairath (Thailand) commented: "Indonesia not only kept hope for themselves but also extinguished China's World Cup dream. They deserve to be the pride of Southeast Asia."
ASEAN Football praised Indonesia's spirit: "They are approaching a historic milestone, determined to realize their World Cup dream."
Last night’s defeat to Indonesia was the second time in a row that China lost their World Cup chance to a Southeast Asian representative. Most recently, they lost to Vietnam in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
After the defeat, coach Branko Ivankovic admitted that Indonesia is a strong opponent and believes they are capable of qualifying for the World Cup: "I know this is a tough match, especially when the Chinese team uses many young players. They have many new players in this match. Some are very young, such as the captain who is only 24 years old.
Indonesian football has a bright future. The opponents in the next round will be tougher but I think Indonesia is a strong team."
In Indonesia's group, Japan and Australia have won direct tickets from Group C to the 2026 World Cup. Saudi Arabia and Indonesia entered the 4th round of the World Cup (play-off round)
Meanwhile, the other groups also determined the owners of the other spots: Korea, Jordan (group B), Uzbekistan, Iran (group A).
Source: https://nld.com.vn/truyen-thong-khu-vuc-khen-indonesia-hlv-trung-quoc-do-loi-doi-hinh-tre-196250606110030586.htm
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