It's Not That Easy to Build a National Team

The coaching era of Patrick Kluivert with the Indonesian national team began poorly. The "Garuda" team, led by the Dutch coach, suffered a crushing 1-5 defeat against Australia in the seventh match of Group C in the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Sydney, Australia, Thursday (20/3/2025). The defeat shattered the bubble of expectations surrounding the national team and Kluivert.

Kluivert was appointed to replace coach Shin Tae-yong with the target of leading Indonesia to directly qualify for the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. His arrival sparked controversy, especially since Shin had just led Indonesia to achieve a positive result in the qualification match, defeating Saudi Arabia with a score of 2-0 in Jakarta on November 19, 2024.

Kluivert was officially appointed as coach on January 8, approximately two and a half months before Indonesia's match against Australia. This interval may seem lengthy, but in reality, it is very tight for the 48-year-old coach.

Moreover, during that time, Kluivert was unable to gather the players for training or conduct trials as they were still playing for their respective clubs in competitions. Practically, all the summoned players could only assemble completely about two days before the match.

To avoid calling it a blunder, this coaching replacement can be said to have been carried out at an inappropriate time. There is no time for Kluivert to implement his game strategy.

Kluivert prefers using the 4-2-3-1 formation, differing from the 3-4-3 and 5-4-1 patterns commonly employed by Shin. It is not surprising that Indonesia did not perform like a cohesive team. It is also unsurprising that the coordination of the Garuda team's play, especially in the defensive line, did not function properly. Five goals ended up in Maarten Paes's net.

The addition of four naturalized players and the services of the assistant coaches could not help Kluivert. The luxury of a squad with the highest market value in Indonesia's history, Rp 634.86 billion, far more expensive than Australia (Rp 412.8 billion), became meaningless.

Indonesia now sits fourth in Group C with six points, four behind second-placed Australia. Saudi Arabia moved Indonesia up from third with nine points thanks to a 1-0 win over China.

Indonesia's chances of qualifying directly for the World Cup as the top two teams in Group C are almost closed. Looking at the three remaining opponents, Jay Idzes and his friends can realistically collect a maximum of 12 points, with a record of sweeping the two home games against Bahrain and China. It is almost impossible to expect Garuda to get a positive result from the last game at the home of the "Blue Samurai".

Indonesia's dream is still alive to win the remaining two direct tickets through the fourth round. The condition is, Indonesia must be able to end the third round in third or fourth place. This is the most realistic way at this time.

Indonesia's crushing defeat to Australia should be a lesson that forming a strong national team is not as easy as finding naturalized players or changing coaches. There are no shortcuts to the World Cup. To borrow a meme phrase, "it's not that easy, Ferguso!"