After the past 5 matches, the Indonesian team has lost all matches, without any points. They are the first team in Group G to be officially eliminated from the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in Asia. According to the schedule, the team from the archipelago has 3 more matches against the UAE (home), Thailand and Vietnam all on away matches.
In an interview with Chosun newspaper, Indonesian coach Shin Tae-yong emphasized that although the team has been eliminated, it will commit to playing the role of a road ahead in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. He implied: "The Indonesian team has lost 5 matches, however, the 3 teams of the UAE, Thailand and Vietnam, any team that does not have 5 wins will not qualify".
At the moment in Group G, the Vietnamese team is leading the group with 11 points (3 wins, 2 draws). According to the schedule, Mr. Park's team will also meet Indonesia (home) and Malaysia, UAE (away). The Thai team is in 3rd place with 8 points (2 wins, 2 draws). They also meet Malaysia, Indonesia (home) and UAE (away). The UAE team is currently in 4th place with 6 points (2 wins, 2 losses). However, the West Asian team still has 4 matches against Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand (home) and Indonesia (away).
In the first leg, Indonesia lost 1-3 to Vietnam and 0-3 to Thailand at home. They also lost 0-5 on the field of the UAE. However, at that time, the Southeast Asian team was led by coach Simom McMenemy. Meanwhile, Mr. Shin Tae-yong has only been hired since the beginning of last year, and has not had any official matches for the Indonesian team.
The strategist who helped the Korean team defeat defending world champion Germany 2-0 at the 2018 World Cup emphasized that he wanted the home team to play their best in the remaining 3 matches of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. It is both an honor and an opportunity for the team to improve its position on the FIFA rankings.
Therefore, if Thailand, Vietnam or the UAE lose points against Indonesia, that team will face a big disadvantage in the race for tickets to the next round in Group G. Only the top team can securing a ticket to the next round, while the second-placed team must compete with the second-placed teams in 7 other groups to choose 5 tickets to the next round.
The away match against Indonesia in Vietnam on June 8 will be of special significance to Mr. Shin Tae-yong, because he is a compatriot of coach Park Hang-seo. Mr. Park's success has always been taken as a standard, creating great pressure and expectations for Mr. Shin Tae-yong from the Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI).
