The bet is lost for the Indonesian federation and the supporters cry foul. To do well in the Asian Cup and especially to dream of historic qualification for the 2026 World Cup (with 48 participants), Indonesia has attracted many European players of Indonesian origin, most of them Dutch. Patrick Kluivert was named coach last January.
The selection therefore competed during the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup with its numerous dual nationals trained on the Old Continent, like Losc left back Calvin Verdonk, native of the Rotterdam region and Oranje international until Espoirs. The Catalan Jordi Amat, former Spanish Espoirs, has been the defensive captain of the national team since 2022.
However, the Garuda Team (named after a legendary birdman who is the emblem of the country) did not create the feat during the fourth round in the Asia zone, losing its two matches against Saudi Arabia (2-3) and Iraq (1-0), last week in Qatar. The Saudis have secured their ticket to the World Cup 26 in North America, while the Iraqis will face the Emirates to compete in the intercontinental play-off in March 2026.
Patrick Kluivert, leader of PSG…
Following the elimination, Patrick Kluivert and his deputies (Alex Pastoor and Denny Landzaat) returned directly to the Netherlands without addressing the Indonesian media (and therefore the millions of supporters). Scandal in Southeast Asia. Indonesia is a country of 283.5 million inhabitants who love football. On Thursday, the federation announced the dismissal of the technical staff. We will not see Kluivert again in Jakarta.
Formerly a scorer for Barça (1998-2004) and star player for the Netherlands (1994-2004), Kluivert had a particularly bad managerial career. He did not distinguish himself as coach of Curaçao, at the head of the Ajax U19s or Adana Demirspor. Even his role as an assistant in the Dutch selection or in Cameroon has been criticized. Not to mention his forgettable stint at PSG as director of football in 2016…
