Patrick Kluivert: The Indonesian National Team Still Needs Adaptation

JAKARTA - The Indonesian National Team (Timnas) lost with a landslide score of 1-5 when they visited Australia's headquarters in Sydney in the seventh match of Group C of the Third Round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification, Thursday, March 20, 2025.

The head coach of the Indonesian national team, Patrick Kluivert, admitted that his players were still adapting to his tactics and style of play considering Australia became his first competitive opponent as coach of the Garuda Squad.

"We have to keep working hard. There are still adjustments needed to get used to the style we want," Kluiver said on the AFC website after the game.

Next, Indonesia has been scheduled to face Bahrain in the 2026 World Cup Qualification continued match against Bahrain at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Tuesday, March 25, 2025.

Kluivert emphasized that he immediately evaluated his troops after the defeat against Australia so that they could be better prepared to face Bahrain.

"We will face a match against Bahrain. We have to work hard to get good results."

"Overall, I'm happy with the mentality and work ethic of the players. We conceded because of individual mistakes and that's something we need to fix."

"It will not be easy (against Bahrain). The most important thing now is to improve the mindset of the players and find positive energy again," Kluiver said again.

The Indonesian national team is eyeing victory when they meet Bahrain. The opportunity opened after the first meeting of the Garuda Squad almost won at Riffa, but was finally offset by a controversial goal in the last minute so that the match ended 2-2 in October 2024.