John Herdman's Debut, 4 Indonesian National Team Players Are Absent in FIFA Series 2026

JAKARTA - John Herdman will make his debut as coach of the Indonesian National Team by guiding the team in the 2026 FIFA Series agenda. However, at that moment, Herdman could not bring out the full strength because four Garuda Squad players were confirmed to be absent.

In the 2026 FIFA Series which will take place on March 23-31, 2026, there are two players who have to sit out because they have to serve a sentence, and two others are still undergoing injury recovery.

Thom Haye and Shayne Pattynama are two players who cannot appear due to FIFA sanctions. Both of them were judged to have displayed unsportsmanlike behavior to match officials after the Indonesian national team lost to Iraq in the fourth round of the 2026 World Cup qualification.

Thom and Shayne must serve a ban of four matches and be fined 5,000 Swiss francs or the equivalent of Rp109 million.

Two other players who cannot strengthen the Indonesian National Team in the 2026 FIFA Series because they are still undergoing injury recovery are Asnawi Mangkualam and Marselino Ferdinan.

Asnawi suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and has undergone surgery. Now the Port FC player has to rest until at least the middle of this year.

Meanwhile, Marselino suffered a hamstring injury. After undergoing surgery, the Oxford United player must rest at least until May 2026.

Even though the four players are confirmed to be absent, there are still many other players who have the potential to be called by Herdman to the Indonesian National Team to face the 2026 FIFA Series match.