Ole Romeny Heats Up Garuda Front Line Competition

The presence of Ole Romeny certainly brings a smile to the face of Indonesia's coach, Patrick Kluivert. Kluivert has more options to assemble a more effective and sharp front line for the "Garuda" squad in facing the remaining four games in the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

However, for the players, Romeny intensifies the competition for a place in the starting lineup in matches, even in the list of players called up for competitive matches of the Indonesian national team.

Two key attackers previously relied upon by Indonesia's tactician, Shin Tae-yong, namely Rafael Struick and Ragnar Oratmangoen, are at risk of being displaced by the presence of Ole. This is because Ole, along with his two "seniors" in the Indonesian national team, possesses relatively similar abilities. All three players use their right foot as their main strength to break through the opponent's defense.

Although Ole more frequently plays as a right-wing forward with Utrecht in the first half of the 2024-2025 Dutch League edition, he is also adept at playing as a central forward and left-wing forward.

Ragnar and Rafael seem to have secured their positions under Shin's guidance. The South Korean tactician more frequently experiments with players in the right-wing forward position.

Marselino Ferdinan, Yakob Sayuri, Witan Sulaeman, and Malik Risaldi are some of the players who have alternated in filling the right-wing attacking position in the six games of the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

With the arrival of Ole, the positions of Ragnar and Rafael face much better competition. Although he has only played three games with an average duration of eight minutes per game with Oxford United, the Nijmegen-born player is one of seven Indonesian players with a market value of over one million euros.

In the midst of the adaptation process in England, Ole came to Oxford with the status of a player with the fourth highest market value for the team competing in the Championship League, the second tier of the English League.

Ragnar and Rafael must prove their abilities in front of Kluivert in their club careers before the international break in March. Because, in his career, Ole is used to playing in both positions.

Ole has contributed 21 goals and three assists in 77 games playing in the centre-forward position. He has managed seven goals and seven assists in 50 games from the left winger position.

Although we still have to wait about a month to see the playing style and tactical approach that Kluivert will present to the Indonesian national team, the composition of the Garuda squad's attack line can at least be imagined.

It refers to Kluivert's history of handling the Curacao national team and Adana Demirspor in the Turkish League. Kluivert predominantly uses a 4-2-3-1 formation that can transform into a 4-3-3. The two wingers that Kluivert fielded have opposite leg strengths to his strongest leg.

In Adana, for example, Kluivert played right-footed Nani as a left-footed midfielder, then left-footed Yusuf Sari on the right side.

The strategy is common in the Netherlands and modern football today, which is intended for attacking wingers to penetrate the middle of the opponent's defense. This role allows wingers to also threaten the opponent's goal while creating their own opportunities to score goals.

With that tactic, Ragnar or Rafael will compete for the position on the left side, if Ole plays as a center forward. If Ole is more trusted on the left side, then the two players will take turns appearing as center forwards.

Based on the club's performance in early 2025, Ragnar has a better chance of becoming a mainstay than Rafael. Ragnar has played in FCV Dender's last 11 games in the Belgian League since the international match last November.

Meanwhile, Rafael has only warmed the bench for Brisbane Roar in the last four games of the Australian League since January 11. He has only played nine times, twice as a starter. The 21-year-old has only scored one goal for Brisbane.

So, who is the right player to fill the Garuda right wing striker position?

A strong candidate and one that Kluivert cannot ignore is Dewa United's winger, Egy Maulana Vikri. In the 2024-2025 BRI Liga 1 Indonesia, Egy recorded the best performance in his professional career.

He has scored nine goals, making him the most prolific local player in Liga 1. Not to be outdone, Egy, who is 24 years old, has provided three assists in 20 appearances with Dewa this season.

Egy's impressive performance came under the tutelage of Dewa United Coach Jan Olde Riekerink who is from the Netherlands. It shows that Egy is already familiar with the Dutch style of attacking.

With the power of his left foot, Egy can become Indonesia's "Arjen Robben" by being placed on the right wing attacker. He can penetrate inside and provide passes into the opponent's penalty box.

Another left-handed forward who could be Kluivert's mainstay is Witan. However, Witan's performance with Persija Jakarta has not been good. He is still goalless and has only bagged two assists in 19 games this season.

Kluivert could also turn his attention to the irreplaceable Saddil Ramdani at Malaysian club Sabah. He has scored six goals and two assists in 15 games for the team nicknamed "Si Badak".

In addition to good match fitness, Saddil can also be Indonesia's hidden strength through accurate execution of free kicks. Despite having qualified abilities, Saddil has been sidelined by Shin since the 2022 Qatar Asian Cup training camp, January 2023.

The depth of the Indonesian national team's attack line also still has the versatile Marselino. In the midst of his efforts to get his debut in the Championship League, Marselino has proven to be one of the best strengths of the Garuda squad at this time.

If Marselino has difficulty getting a place in the winger position, he can be relied on as an attacking midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 tactic. The mobility and ball control ability of the Persebaya Surabaya student will be very useful for Indonesia's positive transition.

In the midst of his activities watching Liga 1 matches live, Kluivert must have thought about the tactics he will use in the games against Australia and Bahrain in March 2025. Garuda's chances are still open to qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup finals. Indonesia is currently in third place in the Group C standings with six points, only one point behind Australia in second place.

In addition to the names mentioned, Kluivert also still has the option of a number of forwards who have careers in Liga 1, such as Ramadhan Sananta, Yakob Sayuri, Ezra Walian, and Beckham Putra.

One thing is for sure, Kluivert has many options to overcome the problem of Indonesia's attacking line which has not been good in the six games of the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.