"I came to check the training process of the Indonesian national team as well as meet with players and officials. I emphasized to them that they should not be divided and play as a team.
We know the pressure is really great, but I believe that the team can overcome difficulties to rise up and all the players are dedicated to Indonesian football," Mr. Erick Thohir shared the information on his personal Instagram account.
Previously, Indonesian media speculated that the national team of this country is having internal problems, especially after their 1-5 loss to Australia (March 20) in the 7th round of the 3rd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia.
Closing that defeat, midfielder Marselino Ferdinan spoke up: "The current team is unable to harmonize with each other. We only had a few days of training, so we still couldn't integrate."
Currently, the majority of the Indonesian team's force is currently Dutch-born players. The local players are becoming less and less. Many Indonesian newspapers have even questioned the role of coach Kluivert.
The future of this coach is also predicted to become more fragile than ever in the context of Indonesia facing difficulties in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. In Group C of the 3rd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia, the team from the archipelago is temporarily ranked 4th with 6 points, equal in points and goal difference with the Bahrain team but ranked higher thanks to the higher goal difference (7 compared to 5).
The two teams will compete for 3rd and 4th place in the group to enter the 4th qualifying round. CNN (Indonesia) emphasized that the task of coach Kluivert and the team is to force the Bahrain team to win the match taking place on March 25 at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.
"Only with a victory can the Indonesian team nurture hope in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia and help the domestic fans cool down.
Otherwise, PSSI will fall into a difficult situation for its ambitious project, with the entire Dutch e-team from Technical Director, coach Kluivert, the coaching staff to the majority of naturalized players," CNN wrote.
