Australian Coach Responds To Many Naturalizations In The Indonesian National Team

JAKARTA - Australian coach Tony Popovic responded to the many naturalized players in the Indonesian national team. This is in the spotlight ahead of the duel between the two teams in the 2026 World Cup Qualification on Thursday, March 20, 2025, afternoon WIB.

Ole Romeny, Dean James, Emil Audero, and Joey Pelupessy became new naturalized players who joined the Garuda Squad. The four players followed a row of other names who had already received Indonesian passports such as Jay Idzes, Calvin Verdok, Thom Haye, and Maarten Paes.

Regarding the hectic naturalization players in the opposing camp, Popovic gave his views. He considered this reasonable in order to improve quality.

"Yes, it (naturalization) is a process that Indonesia can carry out. They are trying to improve the quality of their team."

"Of course, they naturalize these players and they can do it. Good luck they did it successfully and that also happened in the Australian National Team," Popovic said in a press conference session ahead of the duel.

The Socceroos camp also has naturalized players, such as Harry Souttar, Martin Boyle, Jason Cummings, Jackson Irvine, and Apostolos Giannou.

Popovic assesses that player naturalization is a way that can be used to boost the country's performance in international matches.

"So, they do this process, they certainly look for various ways to get better."

"They want to play at the World Cup like us. So, I can see their vision and this is happening all over the world. Everything is getting better. I think we do too," Popovic said.

Australia will host Indonesia in the continuation of the 2026 World Cup Qualification Third Round match at the Sydney Football Stadium, Thursday, March 20, 2025, at 16.10 WIB.

Three points from the match is an absolute target to smooth out competition for the 2026 World Cup which will take place in Canada, the United States, and Mexico.