The Reason Asnawi Mangkualam Was Not Brought By The Indonesian National Team

JAKARTA - The General Chairperson (Ketum) of PSSI, Erick Thohir, opened his voice regarding the absence of Asnawi Mangkualam to the Indonesian national team ahead of Australia and Bahrain in the 2026 World Cup Qualification.

Regarding decisions related to all players, PSSI left it entirely to the coach of the Indonesian national team, Patrick Kluiver. Erick Thohir admitted that he could not intervene in anything.

"It depends on the coach (in choosing a player), it doesn't depend on me. There are no players entrusted," said Erick Thohir in a statement in Jakarta, quoted on Monday, March 17, 2025.

The Indonesian national team will face two matches against Australia and Bahrain in Group C of the Third Round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers in the Asian Zone.

The Garuda squad will first travel to Australia on March 20, 2025, then host Bahrain in Jakarta five days later.

For this match, Kluivert has released a list of temporary squads that will be brought in the two matches. As many as 30 players received calls.

Even so, the list of squads is different this time because there is no Asnawi who has served as captain. Likewise Yakob Sayuri who also became a regular player in the previous coaching era, Shin Tae-yong.

Furthermore, the chairman of PSSI admitted that there was no explanation from the coach about Asnawi's absence from the squad. However, he had predicted that Kluiver would call players according to strategic needs.

"There may be several positions, there is Kevin Diks, Sandy Walsh maybe, also in the upper position (attack) there are other options, with Ole (Romeny)," said Erick.

"I don't know, I don't dare to ask or compare each individual because everything is the strategy of the coaching team," he said.