Dutch Media Participates In Highlighting The Moment Indonesia Loses A Penalty Against Iraq

JAKARTA - Dutch media also highlighted the decision of the referee from China, Ma Ning, who led the match of the Indonesian vs Iraq national team. The situation occurred at the second meeting in the Fourth Round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification, Sunday, October 12, 2025, early morning WIB.

Dutch media, Voetbal Primeur, in a news release quoted Monday, October 13, 2025, highlighted Ma Ning's decision not to give a penalty to the Indonesian national team when the Iraqi defender elbowed Kevin Diks, which led to a red card.

"In the 68th minute, Iraq seemed to have escaped the red card after Zaid Tahseen dropped Ole Romeny, who had broken through the opponent's defense but only received a yellow card."

"Towards the end of the match, a strange moment occurred when Indonesia seemed to have lost its penalty," wrote Voetbal Primeur.

In the end, the Indonesian national team lost 0-1 in the match which took place at the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium, Jeddah, it.

Iraq's only goal was scored by young midfielder Zidane Iqbal in the 76th minute, after passing Calvin Verdok's guard and firing a shot into the bottom left corner of the Maarten Paes goal.

In that match, there was a controversial moment that went viral, namely when Iraqi player Zaid Tahseen did not get a red card for tackling the Indonesian national team striker, Ole Romeny, who tried to counterattack.

At that time the position was still 0-0. The Indonesian national team had the opportunity to launch a counterattack, precisely in the 68th minute.

Ole Romeny has already managed to get past Tahseen and wants to run to face one on one with the Iraqi goalkeeper. However, Tahseen even tackled the Oxford United striker.

The funny thing is, instead of Tahseen getting a red card for being the last person, referee Ma Ning just gave a yellow card that wasported by Indonesian national team players, including coach Patrick Kluiver.

In fact, Zaid Tahseen was deemed worthy of being rewarded with a red card for thwarting the opportunity to score the Indonesian national team's goal.

Tahseen was finally hit by a red card after receiving a second yellow card during injury time. The yellow card was obtained after Zaid Tahseen appeared to follow Kevin Diks' face in the penalty box.

Interestingly, the referee's decision was only to give a red card to Zaid Tahseen, but not to give a penalty to Indonesia, which sparked controversy and protests from Indonesian national team players.