Dreams To The World Cup Run Aground, Are There Still Asa For Local Players To Defend The National Team?

JAKARTA The Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) finally fired Patrick Kluivert as head coach following the failure of the Indonesian national team to advance to the 2026 World Cup finals.

Indonesia's defeat 0-1 to Iraq, in the fourth round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification round in the Asian zone, Sunday (12/10/2025), ensured Garuda's dream of advancing to the final round for the first time buried.

This second defeat in a row, previously facing Saudi Arabia (2-3) overturned Jay Idzes and his friends became part of 48 countries that appeared in the 2026 World Cup. This result also buried Southeast Asia's dream of sending its representatives to the World Cup.

However, the dismissal of Patrick Kluivert is said to be only an instant solution for Indonesian football.

Shortly after the defeat to Iraq, the public urged PSSI to expel the Dutch coach. This decision was conveyed by PSSI General Chair Erick Thohir through his social media accounts. Erick thanked Kluivert's contribution to his two assistants, Alex Pastoor and Danny Landzaat. The parent of Indonesian football also dismissed Gerald Vanenburg as coach of the U-23 team and Frank van Kempen in the U-20 team.

"With full respect, PSSI and coach Patrick and coaching team agreed to end this cooperation. We will evaluate and determine the target for the next Indonesian national team to be ranked in the top 100 FIFA, 2027 Asian Cup, and 2030 World Cup," wrote Erick.

Since arriving in Indonesia to replace Shin Tae-yong (STY) in January, the presence of Kluiver has not been accepted by football lovers. The reason is, even though as a player he has brilliant achievements, his career as a tactician is actually under expectations.

And, it is evident from the results achieved by the national team under Kluiver's coaching. Under his tutelage, the national team got less consistent results. Of the nine matches that were played, only three of them resulted in wins, while the other drew and lost four times. From the total match, Indonesia scored 11 goals, but conceded 15 times.

The dismissal of the coach after the team, which he wrote failed to get the target, was actually normal in football. But in the case of the Indonesian national team, the dismissal of Kluiver was considered only a small part of the comprehensive evaluation of PSSI's national football development and development program. Changing coaches alone is not enough to make football a country able to compete at the world level.

To be able to compete at the world level, Indonesia must carry out a massive overhaul. Not only in terms of coaching, but also grassroots coaching.

Unfortunately, despite the insistence that grassroots development be echoed by a number of observers, the Indonesian national team for some people is not friendly to local talents who start their dreams and pursue careers in the green field at home. Local talents were left out, so the chances of wearing Garuda uniforms were reduced because the local player rations were filled with naturalized and diaspora players.

At least, this is an overview for approximately two years of national team travel throughout the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. At the beginning of the qualification, there were only three naturalized players and 20 domestically assisted players under Shin Tae-yong.

But over time, PSSI decided more to regulate players. And lastly, in the final round of the fourth qualifying match, there were only five local academy students. A total of 18 others are players who have to take the oath of Indonesian citizens before defending the Indonesian national team.

Indeed, there is no prohibition for the state to bring in diaspora players. But in Indonesia, naturalization policies have caused polemics from the start.

Regulating players is considered only a shortcut for PSSI to boost national team achievements, with the main target of passing the World Cup. But on the other hand, the federation led by Erick Thohir is also considered not to side with local players.

In addition, I-League, as the league operator, has made regulations for each club to have seven foreign players per match. This means that only four local players can play in one match of the Indonesian Super League.

The public sees that the Indonesian national team is progressing, although the results are still not as expected. But this is not directly proportional to the development of local players, who did not even get an equal opportunity to defend the country in the green field. In fact, playing for the national team is the biggest achievement and the proudest for every Indonesian child.

For this reason, the former Indonesian national team striker, Dede Sulaeman, believes that local players need to also get equal opportunities to defend the national team.

"Don't let local players feel their hard work in vain due to the priority of naturalized players playing in the national team. Local players remain the main element for the development of Indonesian football," said Dede, a Garuda player in the 1975-1985 period, citing Kompas.