Should Mees Hilgers Return?

The broad smile typical of toothpaste commercial stars always radiates from Mees Hilgers' face when accompanying his teammates to do a victory lap to all corners of the Bung Karno Main Stadium stands, Jakarta, after Indonesia defeated China 1-0, Thursday (5/6/2025).

In that match, a cheerful face celebrating the victory was seen from Mees, even though he only warmed the bench for 90 minutes of the match. With the status of the most expensive Southeast Asian player and defender referring to the market value data of Transfermarkt, it is certainly very unfortunate that the FC Twente defender only filled the list of reserve players.

We do not know how Mees feels. With all his abilities and the title of one of the outstanding young defenders in the Dutch League 2024-2025, Mees needs the opportunity to showcase his impressive performance at the club level while wearing the jersey adorned with the Garuda emblem on his chest.

In the Dutch League this season, the 24-year-old player has appeared for 1,877 minutes in 25 matches. His passing accuracy rate reached 88 percent, helping Twente achieve five games without conceding, averaging four recoveries of possession, four average duels won per game, and no errors leading to goals.

These figures are certainly much more promising compared to the performance of Justin Hubner, who only played in the Premier League Two, a competition specifically for reserve players of English Premier League teams. Similarly, Rizky Ridho played for a team that finished in the mid-table of the BRI Liga 1 2024-2025, Persija Jakarta.

However, a player's performance can sometimes reach a different dimension when representing the national team. This is demonstrated by Justin and Rizky, who have formed a formidable central defense trio alongside Jay Idzes.

The two goalless matches against Bahrain and China are evidence that they have become a strong defensive wall for Garuda. When considering all the matches in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the trio has recorded six games without conceding a goal. Vietnam, the Philippines, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and China have all experienced frustration when facing that defensive trio.

Meanwhile, every time he played since the kickoff, Mees always failed to deliver positive results for Indonesia. Mees started as a key player in the home match against China and the away game against Australia, which are two of the three losses Indonesia experienced in Group C of the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. He also played the full match when Indonesia drew 2-2 with Bahrain.

As a result, Garuda conceded nine goals in those three matches. Not only did they face defeats, but Mees was also unable to complete the games in the last two matches while wearing the Garuda jersey due to an injury sustained in the middle of the second half.

Mees' opportunity to enhance cohesion with his teammates on the field came during the match against Japan on Tuesday (10/6/2025) at 17:35 WIB, at the Suita City Football Stadium, Osaka Prefecture. The match will have no impact on Indonesia's path, which has already secured a place in the fourth round.

Indonesia's coach Patrick Kluivert has also indicated a desire to make changes to the starting eleven. Kluivert wants to provide playing opportunities to players who did not participate in the match against China.

"Perhaps (a rotation will be implemented). I am considering that," said Kluivert after leading the first training session of the Garuda squad in Japan, Sunday (8/6/2025) evening.

When Kluivert provides an opportunity to play, Mees must be able to demonstrate an outstanding performance on the field. The match against Japan, the best team in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers for the Asian zone, is the best test for the quality of Mees, who has been honed in the Netherlands.

Mees's performance with the national team has indeed not been as good as with the club. His passing accuracy is only 80 percent, he is dribbled past by opponents an average of 1.38 times, and he recovers possession of the ball only three times on average.

He is required to adapt to the three-defender system implemented in the Indonesian national team. In his previous two appearances, Mees struggled to understand his role within the three-defender scheme.

His understanding with his two accompanying defenders has not yet appeared cohesive. The task of sharing roles displayed by Mees with Jay has not been as refined as when the Venezia defender partnered with Ridho and Justin.

In addition to Mees, another player who deserves attention is Dean James. Similar to Mees, Dean also regularly appears with his team in the Dutch League, namely Go Ahead Eagles. He is also part of the GA Eagles squad that won the KNVB Cup 2024-2025.

However, the 25-year-old wing-back only watched his teammates from the bench in the last two matches at SUGBK. Considering the performance of his competitor, Dean certainly finds it difficult to displace Calvin Verdonk as the main left wing-back for Indonesia.

Referring to his performance this season with 1,720 minutes of play in 25 matches in the Dutch League, Dean deserves playing time at the Suita Stadium. Dean also has a good record thanks to his contributions of two goals, two assists, and the creation of 10 chances. In defensive duties, he helped GA Eagles achieve two clean sheets.

As for local players, one of them is Yance Sayuri, also deserves the opportunity to record a second cap with the Garuda squad. Yance's speed and defensive ability honed with PSM Makassar and Malut United can be a provision to anticipate the attacking wing game centered on both sides of the field.

Regardless of which players Kluivert trusts to play at the home ground in Japan, the opportunity to perform reflects the fruits of the players' hard work during training sessions. Kluivert stated, "The players I field deserve to play. They have proven their hard work in training sessions."

In addition, the increasing number of names brought by Kluivert further demonstrates the strength equivalent to 30 players that he has taken to Japan. In the first three matches managing Indonesia, Kluivert has utilized 25 players from the 37 names called up for the match calendar in March and June.

"As I have always stated, we want the national team to have two teams of equal quality. Now the national team has that, so whoever is deployed has the same capabilities," said the Chairman of PSSI, Erick Thohir.

Good luck fighting Garuda. Write a new history in Japan.