Moving The Federation Completely, Eliano Reijnders And Mees Hilgers Are Expected To Help The Indonesian National Team Win Points

JAKARTA - Mees Hilgers and Eliano Reijnders have officially completed the transfer of federations from KNVB (Netherlands) to PSSI (Indonesia). After becoming part of the Indonesian national team, these two players immediately got a target to be able to help the team pick up points against Bahrain and China.

Mees Hilgers and Eliano Reijnders officially became Indonesian citizens (WNI) after taking the oath of citizen at the Auditorium of the Indonesian Embassy for Belgium, Brussels, Monday, September 30, 2024.

After the two of them took the oath of Indonesian citizens, PSSI immediately processed the federation move.

Now, the process has been completed and both of them have been confirmed to be able to play for the Indonesian national team in the Third Round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification.

At this event, the Indonesian national team will play two away matches against Bahrain (10 October 2024) and China (15 October 2024).

The presence of Mees and Eliano in the Garuda Squad was welcomed by the General Chairperson (Ketum) of PSSI, Erick Thohir.

In order to increase enthusiasm, Erick Thohir even targeted these two players to help the Indonesian national team bring points from Bahrain and China.

"Nevertheless, don't think that when against Australia or Japan and other teams, the Indonesian national team was immediately positioned as a balanced opponent," said Erick Thohir in a release on Thursday, October 3, 2024.

"The FIFA rating stated that the difference. Because Indonesia is underdog, my target with the presence of Mees and Eliano means having to get points during away matches in Bahrain and China later," he said.

According to Erick, the target of collecting 15 points in 10 matches in Group C of the Third Round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification in the Asian Zone is not an easy task. You see, Indonesia's position is counted as the underdog.

Currently, the Indonesian national team is in fourth place in Group C standings. Shin Tae-yong's team collected two points after two draws against Saudi Arabia (1-1) and Australia (0-0).