It is literally a divine punishment.
The Indonesian national football team, on the 20th (Korea time) at 6:10 p.m. at Sydney Football Stadium in Sydney, Australia, suffered a 1-5 defeat against Australia in the 7th match of Group C of the 2026 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) North and Central America World Cup Qualifiers, despite heavily utilizing naturalized players, feeling the void left by head coach Shin Tae-yong.
In the third qualifiers determining the teams that will advance to the World Cup finals, Indonesia was grouped in C along with Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and China. They registered 1 win, 3 draws, and 2 losses with 6 points after 6 matches, but made the mistake of dismissing head coach Shin Tae-yong and appointing Patrick Kluivert as his successor.
There was much debate regarding the surprising dismissal of head coach Shin Tae-yong, who had been achieving good results. Claims of conflict with the Indonesian Football Association and various controversies arose. Some argued that Indonesia, which is primarily composed of naturalized players, wanted Kluivert, who had a distinguished playing career.
It is literally an act close to betrayal. Since being appointed as the head coach of Indonesia in 2020, Shin had managed the national teams across various age levels and played a significant role in the growth of Indonesian football. He led the team to a runner-up finish in the 2020 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup and a semifinals appearance in the 2022 AFF Mitsubishi Cup.
Nevertheless, the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) suddenly decided to dismiss head coach Shin Tae-yong last January. At that time, the association stated, "This decision was made after careful consideration and evaluation of the team's performance and the long-term goals that the team aims to achieve. PSSI expresses gratitude to everyone who contributed to the development of the Indonesian national football team and wishes Shin Tae-yong the best in his future endeavors."
Simultaneously with the appointment of Kluivert, Indonesia welcomed Jordi Cruyff as a technical advisor last month. Jordi Cruyff is the son of the legendary Dutch striker Johan Cruyff. Head coach Shin Tae-yong had maintained a philosophy of balancing pure Indonesian players and naturalized players while leading the national team.
However, recently, the Indonesian national team is transforming into a direction primarily centered around Dutch naturalized players. The current squad has a significant number of naturalized players, narrowing the opportunities for existing pure Indonesian players. Ultimately, the shift towards actively recruiting naturalized players, aiming to achieve results, has led to the inclusion of famous figures from the Netherlands.
However, the lack of a one-team spirit led directly to a disastrous performance. Because of the heavy defeat, Indonesia fell behind in goal difference. Kluivert and the naturalized players were entirely shaken by Australia’s aggressiveness. They conceded the opening goal to Boyle in the 18th minute and a second goal to Borrello in the 20th minute.
Adding to that, they conceded a third goal to Irvin in the 34th minute, effectively sealing their defeat in a short time. In the 61st minute, Miller finished off a cross from Goodwin with a header, scoring what turned out to be the final blow. Indonesia managed to score a consolation goal with Romani's finish from a pass by Dix in the 78th minute, but that was the end of it. In fact, they conceded another goal to Irvin during stoppage time, resulting in a final score of 1-5.
Is this a punishment for not knowing the subject when they dismissed Shin Tae-yong? Indonesia, which had drawn 0-0 against Australia at home during Shin’s tenure, has been placed in a gloomy situation from the start with the new naturalized players and coach.
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