Indonesia’s recent rise underneath Shin Tae-yong have attracted the attention of many and restored the Timnas Garuda‘s place as one of ASEAN’s leading sides – however Friday’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier defeat at the hands of Japan shows that Indonesia are still far-off from catching up with the elites of Asia.
The rise of the Indonesia national team underneath Tae-yong, and to an extent, current Football Federation of Indonesia president Erick Thohir, was quite unique as it utilized two strategies that are often used by Southeast Asian nations in the ascendancy of their own national teams.
The utilization of players of Indonesian descent born and plying their trade abroad was not unlike the strategy used by the Philippines national team during their renaissance in the 2010s. As a colony of the Dutch for more than three centuries, plenty of Dutch players (and to an extent, players born within the Benelux region) were found to have Indonesian heritage from either their parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents, thus making them eligible for the Indonesia national team. And most of these players were already key players at their respective clubs – Jay Idzes was a reliable defender for Serie A side Venezia, Maarten Paes was the number one goalkeeper of Major League Soccer side FC Dallas, and newly-naturalized Kevin Diks was a key defender for Danish giants FC Copenhagen.
But other than utilizing players with Indonesian heritage, the current Indonesia national team are also blooding in young, local talent, a strategy that was used by Vietnam underneath the tutelage of Park Hang-seo, with the hopes that the introduction of more experienced diaspora players would enable a “transfer of knowledge” that would allow the local youngsters to develop and elevate themselves to reach the playing levels of their diaspora counterparts.
The likes of Rizky Ridho, Asnawi Mangkualam, Egy Maulana Vikri, Witan Sulaeman, Ernando Ari, Pratama Arhan, the Sayuri twins Yakob and Yance, as well as Hokky Caraka are all under their 30s and have established themselves as key members of Tae-yong’s squad. Special mention should go to Rizky, Witan, Ernando, Arhan, and Hokky, who were all 23 years old and younger and have all impressed for the senior national team, signifying a secure future for the Timnas Garuda.
And while the search for diaspora players also included those in the younger categories – the likes of Ji Da-bin, Welber Jardim and Amar Brkic were all descendants of South Korea, Brazil, and Germany respectively – it was the local talents who carried the Indonesia age group national teams, who are as equally as impressing as their senior counterparts, with the likes of Arkhan Kaka, Nabil Asyura, Iqbal Gwijangge, and Kadek Arel being the standout names in the age groups.
This two-pronged strategy has brought Indonesia into a period of renaissance that saw the Timnas Garuda qualify to both the 2023 and 2026 AFC Asian Cups as well as advancing to the third round of the World Cup qualifiers for the first time ever – only the third Southeast Asian nation to advance that far after both Thailand and Vietnam.
Indonesia kept on impressing in their first two matches of the third round qualifiers, drawing powerhouses Saudi Arabia and Australia 1-1 and 0-0 respectively, before poor refereeing denied Indonesia all three points in a 2-2 draw away at Bahrain and Tae-yong’s over-tweaking of his squad costed Indonesia dearly as they went down 2-1 away at a China side who are struggling massively in their group.
Friday’s 4-0 defeat in Jakarta at the hands of Japan, though expected, represented that despite all the hype surrounding Indonesia as of late, the Timnas Garuda are still way-off from matching Asia’s big guns.
But the potential is there, as suggested by the draws against Saudi Arabia and Australia, albeit these were attained against underperforming sides who has since replaced their head coaches. Roberto Mancini and Graham Arnold were the gaffers for the Saudi Arabia and Australia sides that drew with Indonesia, and in the return leg Tae-yong’s men will have to face-off against Herve Renard in the Saudi dugout and Tony Popovic at the helm of the Socceroos, which could represent a tougher challenge altogether.
One thing that many took note of Indonesia’s performance against Japan, and to an extent against China, is that the squad lacked deep chemistry between one another. This is due to the breakneck speeds that Indonesia has been adding their firepower – Mees Hilgers and Eliano Reijnders made their Indonesia debut only 11 days after receiving their citizenship in that 2-2 draw away at Bahrain, while the aforementioned Diks made his debut in the Japan clash only one week after receiving his citizenship. And with Ole Romney set to receive his Indonesian citizenship in the near future, many fear that this constant stream of new talent would cause the Indonesia squad to never bed and gel together, or at least form a cohesive chemistry in time for the next match.
It was worth noting that Paes, despite also receiving his citizenship less than a month before his debut, had plenty of time to bed in with the rest of the squad, thus leading to his impressive performances in the Saudi Arabia and Australia matches.
This lack of chemistry was acknowledged by Calvin Verdonk after the Japan defeat, who told Kompas that the short amount of time that the Indonesia players spent with one another during each international break has led to this issue.
Focusing the current roster of players for the remaining matches – while simultaneously slowly blooding in the new talents along the way – might be the answer for Tae-yong to solve Indonesia’s current slump in form. This would enable the squad to attain proper chemistry with one another, allowing them to understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses and form a cohesive unit that would cause problems for oppositions.
The Indonesia supporters, whilst admirable in their passion, should also temper their expectations. The impressive performances against Saudi Arabia, Australia, and Bahrain might gave Indonesia fans some hope that they could get something off China and Japan, but remember, the aforementioned nations are still above Indonesia in the FIFA rankings, especially Japan who are within the top 20 teams in the world. Just being in the World Cup qualifiers third round alone was a massive achievement for Indonesia and getting some valuable minutes against some of Asia’s best would benefit the Timnas Garuda coming forward.
Indeed, the Indonesia national team is growing towards the right direction, but don’t expect good things to happen immediately. Everything takes time.