If Ir Soeratin Knew…

At the Fairmont Hotel, Jakarta, on Sunday evening (16/3/2025), the Chairman of PSSI, Erick Thohir, officially sent off the Indonesian national team, led by Coach Patrick Kluivert, to Sydney, Australia. Since the two matches of the third round in Group C of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers this March, the "Garuda" squad has strongly reflected the atmosphere of the "Oranje" team.

Kluivert is assisted by three assistants from the Netherlands, namely Alex Pastoor, Denny Landzaat, and Gerald Vanenburg. They also collaborate with Jordi Cruyff, who serves as a technical advisor to PSSI.

Furthermore, PSSI also provided Kluivert with seven assistants from the Netherlands. They are Sjoerd Woudenberg (goalkeeper coach), Jordu Kluitenberg (analyst), Leo Echteld and Chesley ten Oever (physiotherapists), Regi Blinker and Bram Verbruggen (team developers), as well as Quentin Jakoba (physical trainer). Although Jakoba holds a Curacao passport, he grew up and resides in the Netherlands.

With the presence of experts from the "Land of Windmills," PSSI has also added three native faces, namely Alfan Nur Asyhar (team doctor), Sofie Imam Faizal (assistant physical trainer), and Sumardji (manager). PSSI is still awaiting one or two local assistant coaches selected by Kluivert to fill one assistant coach position.

In the history of PSSI since Indonesia's independence, Kluivert can be considered the "Garuda" national team coach most indulged by the federation. He was given full freedom to select the "wagon" of staff from his home country. The number of staff from Kluivert's home country has already exceeded the seven South Korean staff members under Shin Tae-yong during the previous national team coaching period.

The situation experienced by Kluivert has certainly never been encountered by his predecessors who also hail from the Netherlands. Four previous coaches of the Indonesian national team from the Netherlands were never granted the freedom to bring their own staff. Financial reasons and PSSI's confidence in local coaches were the causes.

Four Dutch coaches of Indonesia prior to Kluivert were Wiel Coerver (1975-1976), Frans van Balkom (1978-1979), Henk Wullems (1996-1997), and Wim Rijsbergen (2011-2012). In fact, Coerver, who was contracted by PSSI with the status of Dutch League and UEFA Cup champion in the 1973-1974 season with Feyenoord, was supported by five local assistant coaches.

I am sad, angry, and annoyed all at once because the Indonesian coach is just a spectator in his own country.

Coerver's assistants for the 1976 Montreal Olympic qualification were Hendarto, Sartono, Harry Tjong, Ilyas Haddade, and Solekan. The only assistant Coerver brought from the Netherlands was Wim Hendriks.

With that line-up of assistants, Coerver almost led Indonesia to appear at the 1976 Olympics. The Garuda squad lost on penalties to North Korea.

Dede Sulaeman, a former Indonesian national team player in the 1970s, regretted the tightness of Dutch staff in Kluivert's team. According to him, PSSI should give a large portion to local coaches in order to transfer knowledge with Kluivert's background as a world-class coach.

"I am sad, angry, and upset all at once because the Indonesian coach is only a spectator in his own country. If Kluivert is a quality coach, then he should be confident and have a strong mentality, so he doesn't need to bring 10 assistants," said Dede.

The coaching team, which was filled with Dutch figures, was similar to the coaching staff of the Dutch East Indies team at the 1938 French World Cup. At that time, the NIVU (Dutch East Indies Football Association) formed a team leadership consisting of F Van Bommel (general leader), RE Weiss (team leader), and JC Mastenbroek (technical leader and coach).

The presence of the Dutch trio was inseparable from FIFA's recognition of NIVU as Asia's representative in the 1938 World Cup. FIFA recognized NIVU, not PSSI as its member. Although after Indonesia's independence, FIFA continued the history of the Dutch East Indies team to PSSI.

Fajar Junaedi, a lecturer in communication science at the Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta, assessed that PSSI's policy for the Indonesian national team coaching staff led by Kluivert certainly presents advantages and disadvantages. For Fajar, Kluivert's decision to recruit assistants from the Netherlands was greatly influenced by the need for communication which is very important to influence the thoughts, attitudes, and behavior of his foster children.

"The composition of the Dutch coaching staff shows Kluivert's desire to minimize personal barriers between the coaching staff and the players. Moreover, the majority of the players play in Europe, so the presence of coaching staff who come from the same environment is considered to make it easier to build communication," said Fajar.

Fajar added, "In its implications, local coaching staff are getting less space. In fact, local coaches can gain insight by becoming part of the national team coaching staff."

In order to improve the quality of local coaches, Fajar hopes that PSSI will also accelerate the increase in licensing access at the grassroots level until they can get the best coaching license to coach in the highest national caste competition.

"It is also important to increase the flight hours of local coaches by pursuing a career abroad. Diaspora can be the ninja way," said Fajar.

Yes, Sofie Imam Faizal has had a career abroad. She served as the physical trainer for the Malaysian League team, Sabah FC, for the 2020-2021 period. Imam assisted Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto who served as the head trainer for the team nicknamed "Si Badak".

Ahead of the 1938 World Cup preparations, Ir Soeratin Sosrosoegondo who was the General Chairman of PSSI (All Indonesia Football Association) canceled the gentlemen’s agreement with NIVU for the formation of the team for the world stage. RN Bayu Aji, a lecturer in history education at Surabaya State University, said that Soeratin did that because he did not agree with the team being sent carrying the NIVU banner instead of PSSI.

If they knew that the Indonesian national team depended heavily on naturalized players from Europe, they might be sad.

"Ir Soeratin refused to use the name NIVU because the potential of NIVU only selected Dutch people. However, the team formed by NIVU for the 1938 World Cup actually consisted of mixed players, both players of Dutch, native, and Chinese descent, who played in the Dutch club competition," said Aji.

The captain of the NIVU team is also a native, namely Achmad Nawir. He is a half-back player who defends HBS Surabaya.

Soeratin's refusal also shows his consistency since initiating the formation of the native football federation in the late 1920s. He arose from a situation of stability when football had begun to develop under Dutch control.

For that, he traveled around Java Island to campaign for the idea of forming PSSI. However, not a few rejected Soeratin's idea. The parties disagreed with Soeratin, reflecting the conditions in India which chose to follow England in managing football.

"If in football we can beat the Netherlands, in the future we can also beat the Netherlands in politics," said Maladi, quoting Soeratin's campaign at that time, Kompas (1/1/2000).

Then, what if Soeratin knew that PSSI was currently dependent on the Netherlands again to pursue its big dream of appearing in the World Cup for the first time since proclaiming independence?

"The founders of PSSI had a vision of Indonesian football that was independent and did not depend on the Dutch colonial power as a means of struggle. If they knew that the Indonesian national team depended heavily on naturalized players from Europe, they might be sad," said Aji.

Aji hopes that the short-term pragmatic steps through naturalization will not make PSSI turn a blind eye to the long-term strategy that must be carried out. According to him, the federation must fix the country's competition, so that it can produce talented talents and great players from within the country as desired by the founders of PSSI.

By depending on the Netherlands again, it proves that our football is still far from the dream of independence when the PSSI was declared on April 19, 1930. Would you be proud if "Indonesia Raya" was sung at the 2026 World Cup, Ir Soeratin?