Patrick Kluivert's Yellow Light with the Indonesian National Team

JEDDAH, THURSDAY — Jeddah in Arabic means grandmother. The name refers to the legend of the presence of Hawa's grave, the first woman on earth. In the old city, the Indonesian national team seems to be taught by "the grandmother" that there is still much improvement needed to break through to the World Cup.

Not only the "Garuda" squad, Coach Patrick Kluivert has once again been made aware of a valuable reality. His game plan and tactical decisions are still far from the quality needed to compete at the elite level in Asia.

Indonesia suffered a defeat of 2-3 against Saudi Arabia in the first match of Group B of the fourth round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Thursday (9/10/2025) early morning WIB, at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah.

Indonesia only managed to score from the penalty spot, through center-back Kevin Diks's execution in the 11th and 88th minutes. Saudi Arabia scored three goals thanks to a powerful kick from Saleh Aboulshamat in the 17th minute, followed by a brace or two goals from center-forward Feras al-Buraikan (62' and 36').

Inhabited by 16 naturalized players, trained by a Dutch-owned academy system, out of 23 players on the roster, Indonesia still failed to avoid defeat at home against Saudi Arabia.

This means that Indonesia has never won in eight matches at the "Green Hawks" headquarters. In addition to the dominant diaspora players, Kluivert is also assisted by 14 staff members who speak Dutch.

Although narrowly defeated, the result actually indicates a decline in Indonesia's performance compared to the first match of the third round in September 2024. At that time, Indonesia returned home with a 1-1 draw.

Kluivert's 4-2-3-1 game approach has failed to strengthen the Garuda defense. In three away matches under Kluivert's regime, Indonesia has consistently lost, conceding at least three goals. Before Saudi Arabia scored three goals, Australia and Japan were each able to score five and six goals against Indonesia on home soil.

Kluivert was only able to create four goalless matches at home. Two occurred during the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, followed by two matches in friendlies last September.

This indicates that Indonesia's defense is still very fragile. The three goals conceded could have been worse had Maarten Paes not performed brilliantly. The FC Dallas goalkeeper made seven saves.

One crucial opportunity for Saudi was created through a header by Feras in the 56th minute. Feras's header in front of the goal was parried by Maarten before the ball crossed the goal line.

Next, Maarten blocked a shot from Saudi substitute winger Aiman Yahya in a one-on-one situation in the 85th minute.

"This match was not easy. It was difficult for us. When we were leading by one goal, we conceded two goals from them too quickly," said Indonesia's central defender and captain, Jay Idzes, after the match.

Kluivert's quality as a tactician has determined player choices that have not been particularly accurate since the kickoff. He played Marc Klok as a partner to Joey Pelupessy in the midfield.

The duo did not perform cohesively; in fact, they failed to execute their primary task of filtering the Green Falcon's attacks before they penetrated the defensive line. Klok even lost the ball that initiated the home team's first goal.

The match against Saudi Arabia is Klok's first competitive game as a key player for the Indonesian national team since the kickoff of the match against Iraq in the 2023 Asian Cup.

Klok's rather stylish appearance couldn't match the physical duels with the Saudi midfielders. Klok only managed 73 percent of his passes, a figure significantly lower than Joey's 84 percent, and the 80 percent average of the three Saudi midfielders.

In addition, Kluivert's decision to position Yakob Sayuri as a right-wing back turned out to be a boomerang. This defensive role contrasts with Yakob's attacking role with Malut United.

In an official tournament match, Yakob only appeared once as a right wing-back at the beginning of the game. This was experienced by the 28-year-old player when Indonesia defeated Vietnam 1-0 in the second round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Jakarta.

Yakob committed a foul by pulling Feras's jersey, resulting in a penalty for Saudi. He also failed to accurately read Feras's position to win the second ball duel that initiated the third goal for the Green Falcons.

The presence of Ole Romeny and Thom Haye in the 64th minute proved to have a positive effect. The two players slightly alleviated the shortcomings for Kluivert, although they failed to prevent Indonesia from suffering defeat.

In nearly 30 minutes of play, they helped Indonesia release three accurate shots on goal. Before their appearance, Garuda only managed to create two shots directed at the goal during the match duration of over one hour.

"We have to keep believing. We want to repay the support of the fans who continue to support us with such passion," said Jay.

The Chairman of PSSI, Erick Thohir, who witnessed the match in Jeddah, hopes that the defeat will not undermine the competitive spirit of the Garuda squad. He reminded Jay and his teammates to focus on facing Iraq on Sunday (12/10/2025 WIB).

"Not the desired result, the Indonesian national team has fought with all their might. The national team must quickly rise and focus on the next match against Iraq," said Erick in an official statement.

Indonesia must beat Iraq to maintain its ambition of qualifying for at least the fifth round or the Asian zone play-off round before the 2026 World Cup.