Positive Squad Condition for Bahrain's Provisions Embarrasses Indonesia

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The Bahrain national team arrived in Jakarta with a very positive squad situation. The team coached by Dragan Talajic is aiming for three points when facing Indonesia on Tuesday (25/3/2025) at 8:45 PM at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium (SUGBK).

Compared to the first meeting last October in Riffa, which ended in a 2-2 draw, the internal situation of the Bahrain squad is much better. They hold the title of 2024 Gulf Cup champions, achieved in January 2025, marking their first prestigious trophy under the leadership of Talajic.

The 2024 Gulf Cup marked the cohesion of Bahrain's squad, nicknamed the "Dilmun Warriors," under Talajic. They defeated strong teams in the Arabian Peninsula, such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq, before overcoming Oman in the final match. The Croatian tactician took over the reins as Bahrain's coach following the 2023 Asian Cup in February 2024.

"We come with players in good condition and full of confidence to face Indonesia. We respect Indonesia, but we will fight to play a good match in pursuit of victory," said Talajic during a press conference ahead of the match on Monday evening (24/3/2025) at SUGBK.

A similar sentiment was also expressed by Ebrahim Lutfalla, the goalkeeper of Bahrain. Although Bahrain suffered a 0-2 defeat against Japan in the previous game, Lutfalla remains optimistic that the course of the match in Jakarta will be different for his team.

"Our preparations are very good for the match against Indonesia. We are playing with one goal, to secure three points here," said Lutfalla, who will play his 32nd game wearing Bahrain's jersey.

Lutfalla is the mainstay of the Dilmun Team in their quest to bring home points from Jakarta. He has recorded two clean sheets in the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Interestingly, the goalkeeper from the Al-Muharraq club achieved these clean sheets during away matches against Australia and Saudi Arabia.

If Bahrain can defeat Indonesia, their hopes of advancing to the fourth round will be greatly opened. Additionally, Bahrain is pursuing their second victory in an away match in Jakarta.

The only positive result that Bahrain brought home against Indonesia at SUGBK was created in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, September 6, 2011. At that time, Indonesia, coached by Dutch coach Wim Rijsbergen, was defeated 0-2.

Not only the internal situation of the team, Lutfalla revealed that their presence in Indonesia was also shrouded in a good atmosphere. Since arriving in Jakarta, Friday (3/21/2025), Bahrain has been able to undergo all team preparations, both in the hotel and the training field, without any obstacles. This condition is clearly in contrast to the cyber attack received by Bahraini players after the match in October 2024.

"Indonesia is a large country with a large population. We felt very comfortable since we arrived," Lutfalla said.

Talajic also praised the service provided by the All Indonesia Football Association (PSSI) to his team. In addition to PSSI, Talajic said, he also witnessed friendly Indonesian people welcoming his team.

"The comments on social media do not reflect the real Indonesian people. The Indonesian people we met at the hotel and the journalists were very pleasant," said Talajic, who previously served as Bahrain's Technical Director for the 2022-2024 period.

He added, "Although Indonesia has a large population that is very different from Bahrain, it will not affect tomorrow's match. Because, a football match only involves 11 players against 11 players on the field."

I am surprised that the players are coming from the Netherlands. You have 300 million people, but you have to take players from the Netherlands. Come on, habibi

Furthermore, Talajic was also surprised by the presence of many new faces from within the Indonesian squad in every 2026 World Cup qualifying match. Compared to the duel in Riffa, Bahrain will face Indonesia with the addition of four new naturalized players. They are Ole Romeny, Dean James, Joey Pelupessy, and Emil Audero.

"I am surprised that players come from the Netherlands. You have 300 million people, but you have to take players from the Netherlands. Come on, habibi," said Talajic with a smile.

"I believe that Indonesia's game against Australia does not reflect Indonesia's true strength," he added.

In the official training ahead of the match on Monday night, Talajic led 23 players, consisting of 20 outfield players and three goalkeepers. The goalkeepers underwent separate training that focused on reflex training.

The other 20 players underwent short, quick passes and reactions in situations where they were not in possession of the ball. In the training session, the Bahraini players who were in charge of defending also did not hesitate to make physical contact in order to win possession of the ball.

Meanwhile, center back Amine Benaddi was also present at the official training agenda, despite being absent from the match against Indonesia due to accumulated yellow cards. Unlike his teammates, Benaddi did not wear soccer shoes and only used regular sports shoes. He sat in the bench zone to watch his teammates train.