Marselino Ferdinand Focuses On 2026 World Cup Qualifiers After Trial Against Tanzania

JAKARTA - The Indonesian national team midfielder, Marselino Ferdinand, said that the 0-0 draw against Tanzania in the trial was not a problem.

You see, the trial match was not looking for results, but to restore the fitness and performance of the Indonesian national team players ahead of the remaining two matches of the second round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification.

The Indonesian national team will face Iraq (June 6, 2024) and the Philippines (June 11, 2024) at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium.

Not surprisingly, the trial party for the Indonesian vs Tanzania national team which was held at the Madya Stadium, Jakarta, Sunday, June 2, 2024, became one of the series of training camps to achieve peak performance in the 2026 World Cup Qualification.

Shin Tae-yong also almost played all his players, including debutant Malik Risaldi.

After the trial, Marselino Ferdinand admitted that the match against Tanzania was good to be an evaluation material so that later there would be no mistakes in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers which were repeated.

"Indeed, there are players who have just finished the league. Some have (the league) been completed for a long time. We actually haven't changed much in the team."

"Regarding communication between players, we are trying to fix it. Every player must be different because the clubs are different. Moreover, at the Indonesian club and national team it is also different," said Marselino.

"I took a lot of lessons and experience in the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup. We changed as a whole, as a team, especially since we brought the game from Indonesia U-23 to seniors. Everything went well and balanced," he said.

After the test against Tanzania, the Indonesian national team continued to make preparations. Marselino and his colleagues focused on looking at the match against Iraq and the Philippines in order to provide maximum results.

"We are ready to fight Iraq and the Philippines. We don't see anything, we have to win all the remaining matches. The condition of the players, I emphasize, is ready to face the next match," said the player who played at KMKZ Dainze, Belgium.